


The Magic in the Writing

by Obsessive_mishamigo



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 4 8 15 16 23 42, 65 mustang fastback, 71dodge charger super bee, AU, Ages 21 and 25 have meaning, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Bonfire, Castiel's Birthday, Confronting, Dean flirts with girls and fails miserably, Dean gets drunk?, Dean in Denial, Dean is super snarky to sam, F/M, First Date, First Kiss, I promise, I refuse to apologize for that, Indiana Jones - Freeform, Lost - Freeform, M/M, Netflix binge, Ritual, Sam deserves love too ya know, Sam finally becomes an elder, Sam is always running late, Self Pity, September - Freeform, Slow Burn, Summer Solstice, There will be two love stories, This is fluffier than cotton candy, To change or not to change, Universe loosely based on the giver, Unoriginal diner name, What the Hell just happened?, When green remembers blue, a scoch of jealousy, awkward eye contact, boarderline alcoholic, book your dentist appointment now, bound by magic, cas is awkward, celebration, dean is so cute when he's clumsy, fluffy saileen moment, happy birthday dean, i will make it worth it, lincoln continental - Freeform, mechanic!Dean, movie marathon, not the crystal skull, panic sets in, professor novak, prompt, sam needs to learn to pay attention to things, soul mates, that movie sucked, there is denial, when green finally sees blue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-12-26 13:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12060339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessive_mishamigo/pseuds/Obsessive_mishamigo
Summary: At 21 you get your permanent job placement from the elders.At 24 you start to see the writings of your soul mate on your skin.At 25 you always see what they write.Sam is nervous for his job placement he just received.Dean has started to see the doodles of his future soul mate. When he finds out who it is he has a less than stellar reaction.Based loosely on a soul mate prompt from the fb group, Destiel Forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheTwistedWillow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTwistedWillow/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is almost Sam's 21st birthday, and that means he gets his permanent job placement.

**3:15pm**

Dean looked at the clock, then he looked at his right hand, and like clockwork for the last few weeks at this exact time, a strange looking “V” with what looked like a crown above it appeared. Dean knew exactly what this meant. He knew that he didn't have time to worry about that right now. His little brother’s 21st birthday was quickly approaching. This meant that he would be getting his permanent job assignment from the elders. He was more nervous than he showed. He had to be strong for Sam.

  
“Tomorrow is the big day, Sammy. What are you hoping to get?” Dean asked his brother as he tried to hide his hand.

  
“Honestly, whatever they give me. I know it's right for me. They always choose what is best,” Sam said, knowing they could hear him.

  
“You're right, Sammy.” He kept trying to hide how scared he was that Sam would be sent somewhere away from him. After all they were all each other had anymore after the accident. It had been four years since then, and Dean still refused to talk about it. Dean gathered his things and looked at the clock again. “I gotta go. If I'm late again, my boss is going to kill me.”

“Oh crap! I have class in 15 minutes too. Mr. Novak is going to be furious if I interrupt his lecture!” Sam grabbed his books and ran out the door.

  
                  *****

  
Sam got to class right before his professor was putting up a stop sign on the door, letting latecomers know not to enter.

  
“Almost didn't make it, Mr. Winchester,” Professor Novak said with a stern look on his face. Despite being the youngest professor in the history of the college, he was a stickler for tardiness and made sure to close the door right as the class begun.

  
“I'm so sorry. It will never happen again.” Sam quickly found a seat not too close, but not too far back either. Today’s lecture was the fourth part of ‘Science, Magic, and Religion,’ a series of lectures that covered how science and religion have shaped history. Professor Novak worked with UCLA on this series of lectures and was proud to say that he was a coauthor on the published works. The lecture went on for quite some time, but no one got bored. He effortlessly made the lecture educational and entertaining.

  
“There are 15 questions on the screen. There are 30 minutes left of the class today. You may leave early if you finish those early. Otherwise you may leave in 30.” Professor Novak went and sat at his desk, put his feet up on top to relax, and waited for the class to end. In the 30 minute time span, only a handful of students turned their papers in. The clock struck on the hour. “If you are still here, you have till Monday to turn in your answers. Mr. Winchester, could you see me before you leave, please?”

  
The remaining students got up and shuffled about, putting books away, and writing down the remaining questions they needed to answer. “You wanted to see me, Professor Novak?” Sam asked, wondering what he did wrong.

  
“It is my understanding that you are seeing the elders tomorrow. Am I wrong in this assumption?”

  
“No,” Sam's nerves were starting to get the best of him. “You are right.”

  
“Don't worry about turning in your answers Monday. I will grant you an extension on them. I know how nervous I was to see them a few years ago.” He placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder.

  
“Thanks, Professor Novak. I have one question. Will they let me finish school?”

  
“That will all be dependent on where they send you to work. Most of the jobs, yes,” Professor Novak said with a reassuring smile.

  
“Oh, okay.” Sam let out a sigh of relief.

  
“Best of luck to you. I am excited to see where they are sending my best student.” Professor Novak turned and gathered his papers.

  
“I'll see ya Monday!” With that Sam ran up the steps to the doors and went home, hopeful and excited for his birthday the next day.

  
                 *****

 

“Happy Birthday, Sammy!” Dean might as well have kicked Sam’s door down with how loud he opened it. “It's 7:30. That means it's time to get up so I can take you to the elders. This is not a time to be late!”

  
Sam jolted out of his bed and rushed around their small two bedroom apartment getting ready. Dean was shocked to see him ready in just over five minutes. “Let's go. We can get food on the way!” Sam practically shouted as he ran out the door to their car.

  
“This kid is going to be the death of me,” Dean mumbled to himself as he grabbed the keys to the Impala. After going through a drive thru and grabbing a quick breakfast, and much needed coffee, they found themselves in the parking lot of the huge stone building that housed the elders. “Just breathe. You are the smartest person I have ever met. They wouldn't put you anywhere stupid. Now go, don't leave them waiting.”

  
Sam got out of the car, started to walk to the building, then stopped. He looked back at his brother who just motioned for him to go. With a gulp and a sigh, he finished his walk to the entrance. As soon as he walked in, he was promptly greeted by a very attractive gal at the front desk.

  
“I'm sorry, did you say something?” Sam snapped back to reality after being awestruck by his lavish surroundings.

  
“May I have your name, please,” the Brunette didn't say, instead she signed.

  
“Oh I am so sorry,” Sam signed back. “I was unaware. My name is Sam Winchester.” He signed back to her.

  
“You may have a seat. They will call your name shortly.” She signed back and pointed to a small reception area.

  
“Thank you, Eileen.” He responded after he noticed her name tag. Sam began to walk to the chairs and turned back, “By the way,” he signed “That shirt looks really beautiful on you.” This made Eileen blush.

  
Sam waited for what felt like hours, but in reality, was only a few minutes. “Sam… Winchester? The elders will see you now.” Sam let out the breath he was unaware he had been holding in and nervously went to see the elders.

  
                  *****

**SLAM!**

  
The sound of the passenger side door woke Dean up. “Whoa, sorry, Sammy. Musta fallen asleep while waiting. How did it go?” Dean sits back up from his sleeping position. Sam sat there, silent, almost in a catatonic state. “Well? Man, you can't leave me hanging! What did they give you?”

  
Sam turned his head slowly to Dean, and simply blinked the stunned reaction away from his face. “They are going to train me to be an elder,” he simply stated.

  
“Oh that's aweso… wait… like an elder elder?” Dean has never looked this confused in his life.

  
“Like an elder elder. One of the elders is retiring soon, and they want me to take over.” Sam can not get the shock to go away. “Dean, I'm terrified.”

  
Dean turned on the car and shifted to reverse. “Well, they couldn't have picked a better replacement for an elder. They are the smartest people in the community. Now you are going to be one of them.”

  
“I'm just glad they are working the training around school.” Sam finally relaxed and let out a content sigh.

  
“I'm proud of you, little brother.” Dean glanced over to Sam then drove them home.

  
                    *****

 

“For those of you who didn't get their assignments into me on Friday, please make sure they are on my desk before you leave. Also, Mr. Winchester, can I see you for just a moment before you leave?” Professor Novak gestured to his desk as everyone shuffled to leave.

  
“I bet you want to know what the elders chose for me,” Sam quietly said so no one else but his professor could hear.

  
“Would this conversation be better taken to my office?” he asked with his head tilted to the side. Sam didn't say anything, just simply nodded his head. The two of them went to the near by office and closed the door. “So, where did the wise elders place my favorite student?” he asked with a smile as he sat on the edge of his desk.

  
“They are going to make me the newest elder.” Sam could only manage to stare at his shoes as he held the strap to his back pack.

  
“You're kidding!” That wasn't a question. He jumped off the desk in excitement. “Congratulations! That is amazing! I trust they are letting you finish school?” Again, Sam gave a simple, silent nod, this time with a small smile.

 

“Thanks.” Sam glanced up at the clock and noticed the time. “Oh crap! I'm sorry I have to go. I have my brother’s car, and I need to get him from work. He's going to kill me!” Sam takes off without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean starts to see other things besides the 'V', and this confuses him.

"Wake up, Sammy, you are going to be late.” Dean kicked Sam's bed.

 

“Five more minutes,” Sam groaned and turned to face his clock. “Oh my God!” He shot right out of bed. “I'm going to be late!”

 

“I literally just said that,” Dean said to himself while Sam scrambled around him to get ready. “These guys must be wearing you down. All you seem to do is read this huge book of laws and sleep.”

 

“At least I’ve been learning how everything runs around here. I still have six more months of learning laws and the magic of how everything works. Plus, I still have four months after that of school still,” Sam said while hopping on one foot to get his shoes on.

 

“Let's go. I have work today. Last thing I want is for either of us to be late.” Dean grabbed the keys to the Impala.

 

After he dropped Sam off at his job study, he quickly rushed off to work. “Boy, if you were one more minute later I would have kicked your ass.” A voice came from behind a closed office door of the shop.

 

“Sorry, Bobby. Sam overslept. How many people do we have lined up today?” Dean yelled back as he got his jump suit on.

 

“There is a yellow bug in bay two, then you have,” Bobby comes out of the office holding his clipboard, “an engine tune up, two tire rotations, and an oil change all before lunch. You better get crackin’, kid.” He tossed the clipboard over to Dean who caught it and gave the older man a lazy salute.

 

Dean powered through his morning appointments and got through his lunch break, only checking in on Sam twice. He was so proud of his little brother being chosen to be an elder. He only wished he could talk about it before the official announcement in February.

 

His second break came and went. He was now wrist deep into his fourth oil change of the day. Something in his mind, or more his hand, made him stop, close his eyes, and take a deep breath. Must be 3:15. Slowly the “V” shape showed up on his hand. This time it was smaller and slightly tilted. It was also red this time. Normally it's black. _Their black pen must be out._ The sight of it slowly showing up made him smile. He looked around to see if anyone was paying agttention to the obvious moment he was having. Luckily, he was alone. Dean shook his head back to reality, put his gloves on so the symbol didn't distract him, and kept working.

 

5:00pm

 

Dean's shift was now over, and it was time to pick up Sam from his training. As much as Dean would love to hear all about the magic behind the writing on his hand, he knew it wasn't his place to ask. He would know more in five short months when he turned 25 and it was his turn to learn about it from the elders.

 

*****

 

2:00pm

 

 _Ugh, I still have a stack of papers to grade. Castiel, snap out of this and stay awake._ Castiel grabbed the closest pen to him and did a quick doodle on his right hand. _Okay, now I need to finish grading these papers, no more distractions._ Thankfully, he grabbed his red inked pen. He snatched the paper off the top of the never ending pile and began to grade it.

 

5:30pm

Castiel threw his pen down and collapsed his head into his arms on his desk. "This job is going to kill me." After he finished collecting himself after the hours of torment and the same wrong answer paper after paper, he gathered his things and went home.

*****

“I can't tell you that, Dean. You know the rules. I have literally told you this every day for four months now.” Sam huffed as he slammed his book closed and went to hide out into his room.

 

“You can't tell me ANYTHING about how the markings show up? Or why?” Dean hid his hand as he felt something start to show.

 

“I don't know that answer yet, Dean. Even if I did, I couldn't tell you.” Sam locked his bedroom door and prayed Dean would give him some privacy.

 

Dean let out a very audible sigh and looked down at his tingling hand. His eyebrows raised in confusion. This is new. His usual “V” didn't show up instead it was replaced by a sequence of numbers. He watched as the numbers slowly appeared.

 

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

 

Dean continued to look puzzled at the numbers. Not just because he swore he had seen them before, but they weren't in the usual spot on the back of his hand. As they kept coming in it started to tickle, but he held in the giggle… no, not a giggle, he held in the small laugh that was bound to happen if it kept going. The numbers were starting to fade slowly. Dean did the first thing that came to his mind, he grabbed the nearest paper and quickly wrote the numbers down. Suddenly, Dean looked up to the sound of water running in the kitchen behind him.

 

“Sorry, I was just thirsty,” Sam said in between drinks of water.

 

“That's okay, Sam. Sorry I keep bringing it up,” Dean mumbled while studying the numbers on the paper.

 

“Why do you have the numbers from ‘Lost’ on the back of a receipt?” Sam questioned his brother’s sanity at that point.

 

“That's what it is!” Dean jumped up in excitement, balled up the receipt, and spiked it on the table like he just scored a touchdown at the Super Bowl.

 

“I'm just … gonna… go now.” Sam eyes widened as he took his glass of water and slowly backed up and went back to study. “Mental, that one.” Sam mumbled in a British accent. He was aware he just quoted Harry Potter, and he didn't have the energy to care what Dean thought.

 

*****

 

It was a ‘just one more episode’ kind of night after Castiel got done grading all the papers. This weeks show: Lost.

 

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 the numbers flash on the screen and he paused the show. Without even thinking he grabbed the nearest pen and wrote the numbers down on the palm of his right hand. He stared at the sequence trying to make any sense of it then realized his efforts were futile and went to go wash it off. “I'm sure they will explain it more,” he softly said to himself as the ink came off of his hand.

 

Once cleaned off, he just looked at his hand and started to laugh. The idea of his soul mate seeing those numbers was funny to him. "They are probably going crazy trying to figure out what that means." He let out another quiet laugh before returning to “just one more” episode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to be posting at least once a week. I really have no set schedule. This chapter was going to be posted tomorrow, but it's my husbands borthday. :) So it's a day early! I will also try and respond to all comments left. (Even if it's not right away)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little Latin, but mostly cute SAileen moment.

“Good morning, Eileen,” Sam blushed a little as he signed. 

 

“Good morning, Sam,” she quickly signed back, trying to ignore his blushes. “I hope you slept well.” 

 

“I did, thank you. I almost overslept. Glad I didn't.” He just got done signing when a familiar voice called him to the back. “I'll see you later, ok? Lunch?”

 

“Yeah, I'd like that.” She signed back and smiled as she looked down at the papers on her desk. 

 

“Are you ready for today's lesson, Sam?” A small male voice asked behind a stack of books taller than him. 

 

“Bring it on, Chuck.” Sam pushed the books aside so he could see the curly haired man. 

 

“We are going real deep today. The sixth month marks when you get to learn about the magic behind how soul mates are chosen.” Chuck struggled to find the right book that was clearly already open in front of him. 

 

Sam's eyes got wide. This is the part he had been the most anxious and nervous to learn. He was also scared because if Dean found out that is what he was learning about, he knew there would be hundreds of questions that would follow. Sam gulped. “Is it difficult?” He hesitantly asked while gesturing to the book in front of Chuck. 

 

“No…” he started, “ah, thank you… it's not too difficult. Just have to remember your part of the ritual that is done every summer solstice.” He thumbed through the pages till he found the right one. “You will be taking over for…” Chuck looked at his notes. “That's right, Roman.” He chuckled. “Good thing too. He's kind of a dick.”

 

They went over the part several times before they started to get hungry. Just in time too because by their clock, it was lunch time. “I'll see you in an hour, Chuck,” Sam quickly said as he rushed out to the lobby area. “Are you ready for lunch?” He signed to Eileen, who was just beaming with happiness. 

 

“Sure, let me grab my purse.” Her cheeks were starting to turn pink. “Where are we going?” 

 

“I figured we could try the new diner down the street. My brother told me they have great pie.” Sam smiled as he signed while walking backwards to the door. He refused to lose contact with her beautiful brown eyes. “It's only a short walk away.”

 

Sam, being the gentleman that he is, held the door for Eileen. They took the short block and a half walk to the diner that was simply named ‘Diner’. Sam rolled his eyes at the originality of the name but was pleasantly surprised at the inside. It was quaint, not too small, but also intimate. They chose a booth close to the window so they could also people watch. Sam ordered himself a chef's salad and was thrown a little off guard when Eileen ordered the bacon cheeseburger and a side of onion rings. 

 

“So, Eileen, this is our…” Sam paused to count. “Ninth, lunch together? Am I right in assuming that?” She simply nodded her head then took a drink of her iced tea. “So I was wondering,” His hand movements were getting slower even though he has practiced this what seems like a million times. “Would it be wrong of me to call you my…” he paused to gain his confidence “girlfriend?” 

 

The smile on Eileen's face spoke volumes. There were no hand movements from her, just a look that had every answer Sam could ever want. He felt like his heart was about to stop and he leaned over the table and gave her a gentle kiss. When she returned the kiss he knew for a fact that his heart skipped two… okay, five beats. With lunch being an overwhelming success, they walked back to the building, not just as friends, but now as a couple. Sam reached down and held her hand the whole way back. They were going to be about ten minutes late, but neither of them seemed to care. Once back in, he gave her another quick kiss before letting her know that he would see her later. 

 

“You're late.” Chuck looked up at the clock as Sam rushed into the study room. 

 

“Sorry, the diner was slower than I expected.” Sam was still glowing from lunch. 

 

Chuck rolled his eyes. “Well, now we have to work just a little faster to compensate for the time lost. Let's run through your part of the ritual again. You need to be off book by the end of the week.” Chuck tossed a raggedy looking scroll at Sam and began to say the other elders’ parts. 

 

Finally, it was Sam’s turn. He was positioned to say the very last part of the ritual. He had no room to mess this up. “Et simul vitae conferent ad compagem ex duabus animabus exercitatio, fractio cor unum, omne enim cor verberat alio: omnis enim anima est undam.”

 

In the back of his mind, he wished he had paid more attention in Latin… or was it Spanish he took? Either way, he was unsure of what he was actually saying, but he planned to translate it as soon as he could. 

 

Chuck drilled the correct pronunciation into his mind. One slip up could ruin everything for everyone, even those who were already under the spell. One syllable out of place could cause catastrophe. Sam was going to be damned if he was the reason to stop this centuries-old ritual. That's all everyone had ever known, the only thing that he couldn't figure out was why it started at the age of 25. 

 

They practiced the Latin over and over again till Sam was sure that he was going to dream in Latin for weeks to come. All he knew about the ritual so far was what they were to say during it. Chuck had yet to tell him what else they needed to do. It was almost like he was hiding something, though he wasn't sure what. 

 

They finished the day with about 12 more walkthroughs. Sam looked like a zombie by the time he left his training that day. He knew he had to get home as soon as he could because he still had class in the morning. Thankfully, he was only two credits away from graduating and only had a few more weeks left of Professor Novak’s class. He was going to miss that one the most. He’d become quick friends with the man. 

 

“You look dead.” Eileen signed after she caught Sam’s attention. “Do you need a ride home?”

 

“You drive?” Sam looked puzzled. 

 

“I'm deaf, not blind.” She chuckled lightly. 

 

“Okay, but if I die, I'm coming back and haunting you.” Sam leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Then he flashed her the biggest, toothy grin as they left the building.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam learns about the horn of Gabriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a really good day today, figured I'd pass it on and give you guys a chapter.

Sam ran in through the barely cracked door that was being closed. “I'm so sorry, Professor Novak,” Sam apologized through heavy breaths. “I know, I know, don't let it happen again.” They both had a good laugh because they knew it was going to happen again. Sam jogged down the steps and to his favorite seat in the fourth row. 

 

“Today is our last day in our Science, Magic, and Religion series. After today's lecture, you will have a few weeks to catch up on any of the lectures you may have missed before we move to our end of term essays.” Castiel's words seemed to bounce with every step down the stairs he took. “My office doors are open Mondays and Fridays after class for anyone needing recordings of the classes.” He reached the front of the class and turned to face his students. “I trust you to bring your own flash drive to put them on. I am not a Best Buy.”

 

Normally, Sam would pay attention to every word that was said in class, but he couldn't shake the weird feeling he had. His eyes seemed to dart around the room, like he had the concentration of a five year old after they get into their bag of Halloween candy. His eyes caught something bright pink and he found it odd. Suddenly all that energy was focused on one thing. That one thing should have been the lecture that was 15% of his grade. But instead it was the bright pink writing on his teacher's hand that was displayed almost ceremoniously on the podium in front of him. Wishing he had chosen a closer seat so he could make out what was obviously done with a highlighter, he kept tilting his head and squinting to try and catch a glimpse of what it could possibly be. 

 

Sam spent the rest of the class studying what could possibly be on his Professor's hand. He was so fixated he didn't even realize that his class was over. Castiel snapped his fingers twice then clapped his hands loudly by Sam’s ear. He was too focused on trying to draw what he saw to even realize. His focus was broken by the paper getting ripped out from under him. “Whatcha got there, Mr. Winchester?” Castiel tilted his head and smiled as he looked at the paper. “Are you trying to draw this?” He lifted his hand to show him the marking on his skin. 

 

“Yes, sorry. It was so bright. It was the only thing I could focus on today.” Sam reached for the paper, but it was out of his reach, even with his long arms. 

 

“If you wanted to know, all you had to do was ask.” Castiel raised one eyebrow. “It is called the horn of Gabriel. I did my end of the year thesis on it. I draw it when I get stressed or bored.” Castiel began to fold the paper. “And as for this, I will be keeping it. Sorry.” He put the paper in his jacket pocket and then patted Sam on the shoulder. “Now, get out of here, class ended 15 minutes ago.” 

 

*****

 

“Sammy, you want to go out for dinner tonight?” Dean asked while knocking on Sam’s bedroom door. 

“Sounds great! Where do you want to go?” Sam opened his door and noticed Dean was uncomfortably close to it. “Uh, Dean, how do you expect me to leave my room, if you are standing in the doorway?” 

 

“Oh, sorry.” Dean let out a small laugh. “Want to go for pizza or burgers?”

 

“Well, you always get burgers, so let's to go Tony’s Pizza.” Sam put his jacket on and they both got in the car.

 

Dean went to turn on the radio and something caught Sam's attention out of the corner of his eye. Looking down at Dean, Sam's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped in his closed mouth. Oh. My. God. His eyes bounced between Dean's hand and his face. 

 

“Is there something on my face?” Dean rubbed his face with his hand. 

 

“No,” Sam shook his head fast. “Nothing on your face sorry.” The sidewalk suddenly became very interesting to Sam. Oh my god. His eyes stayed wide but hidden from his brother’s view. 

 

Dean looked down and jumped a little. This was the first time Sam had seen the markings on his hand. He was rather good at hiding them ever since they started a few months ago. This time it was bright pink, almost the same shade his cheeks were turning. But the color was starting to fade, like it was being washed off. Dean wasn't sure if Sam was reacting because it is the first time he had seen it or if it was because of the color. He felt it best not to ask. 

 

Sam seemed to be mumbling to himself in between bites of pizza. He had been off book for his part of the ritual for a few weeks now, but he still needed to remember it like it was his ABCs. Pretty soon he will be able to sit in on the elders’ meetings with other people, so he would be able to get a feel on how they all run. He had however been informed that he would not be able to sit in on Dean’s meeting in a month and was actually given that day off. Much to his relief too, he had an awesome day planned for his big brother. 

 

“...what do you think about that, Sam?” Sam just kept mumbling to himself in Latin. “Earth to Sam.” Dean waves his hand in front of Sam's face. 

 

“Oh yeah. Sounds… sounds great, Dean.” Sam halfway jumped back to reality. 

 

“Did you pay attention to anything I was talking about?” That was a rhetorical question. 

 

“Sorry, I just have so much on my mind right now. They have just tossed so much at me lately. It's hard to keep it all in line.” He took a drink of his water. “What were we talking about?”

 

“I've been talking to Bobby about buying his old car and fixing it up for you.” Dean stared daggers at Sam for not paying attention. 

 

Sam's head perks up. “The fastback?” He started to form a smile. 

 

“No, the Lincoln Continental.” Dean's face remained emotionless. “I want my brother to drive a pimpmobile” Dean just blankly stared at Sam, trying to gage a reaction. “Yes, I mean the fastback.”

 

“Dean, that's a 65’ Mustang…” Sam started to have trouble forming words at this point. “How can you afford that?” 

 

“Well, Bobby is working with me on the payments and is letting me go in on my days off and use the shop to fix it up. I still have to pay for the parts, but he's giving me a discount.” Dean finished his slice of pizza and threw his napkin on his plate in defeat. 

 

“That's… that's amazing! You are the best big brother ever Dean!” Sam would jump up and hug him if this darn booth table wasn't in the way. 

 

They paid for their pizza and Sam couldn't stop saying thank you over and over again to Dean. “Can we paint it black?”

 

“Nope, it has to be Jubilee Gold.” There was that emotionless face again. “Of course, we can. Oh,” he pointed at Sam. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.” Dean laughed as he got into the Impala.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys like, I will post chapter 5 early too. Just let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Dean, it's about time you see those blue eyes

“Happy birthday, Dean!” The aroma of pie filled their apartment. 

 

Dean rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Is that what I think it is?”

 

“If you think it's birthday breakfast pie, then yes, it is exactly what you think it is!” Sam cut a generous slice of pie for Dean, who was already salivating at the thought of pie. “And I made it myself.” Sam thought he was so special for knowing how to make a pie. 

 

“So if this kills me, I know who to blame.” Sam didn't hesitate to sucker punch his brother in the arm for that comment. “Holy crap! This is amazing!” 

 

“You're welcome.” Sam laughed. “They gave me the day off today, so I can't go with you. Plus whole, ‘conflict of interest’ thing.” Dean could practically hear the air quotes. “But remember what I taught you?”

 

“D-E-A-N W-I-N-C-H-E-S-T-E-R” Dean slowly finger spelled. “I hear you are shacking up with my little brother.” He quickly signed. 

 

Sam sucker punched Dean's arm again, hitting the same exact spot with perfect aim. “Hey! I didn't teach you that!”

 

“I know.” Dean took a huge bite of his pie. “Learned that one myself after you told me about Eileen.” Dean glanced over to Sam whose face has now turned its fourth shade of red. “Now I actually get to use it.” Dean finished his pie and dodged the third sucker punch. “Okay, okay, I won't use it.” He wiped up his face and grabbed his keys. “I should get going. It's almost time for my appointment.” 

 

*****

“Castiel Novak,” a friendly voice called. “The elders will see you now.” 

Castiel got up and walked nervously to the large room where the elders conducted their meetings. It hadn't changed since he was there three years ago for his 25th birthday. Not sure why he would expect it to change, nothing seems to ever change in his life. There was nowhere for him to sit. He just stood in the boxed area in the middle of the room. He looked up from his feet to see the five elders walk into the room holding what appeared to be binders. 

 

“You have asked to see us, Mr. Novak?” asked the female elder in the middle. 

 

“Yes, I did Madam Harvelle,” Castiel spoke clearly into the microphone in front of him. “You see, it has been three years, and I have yet to see any markings. I was wondering if there was any reason as to why.” He looked down at his hands then back up to the five elders. 

 

“By our calculations, there are two reasons why this hasn't happened yet.” The younger looking elder spoke up. “Either, they don't know about it yet, or they simply haven't written anything yet.” He turned to Madam Harvelle. “Does that seem about right?” He asked her. 

 

“That is precisely it, Mr. Miles.” She looked back at Castiel. “I can assure you, Mr. Novak, there is someone for you, please give it time.” 

 

Tears began to well up in his eyes as they dismissed him and everyone, including him, left the room. 

 

*****

 

“Name please,” Eileen signed, knowing exactly who it was. 

 

“Dean Winchester,” he remembered how to spell it, only stumbling once. “I hear you really like my brother.” Another sign he learned on his own. This made her blush. 

 

“Yes, we have been dating for some time now.” She responded. “Oh, it’s almost time for your meeting. You can have a seat over there.” She pointed to the newly redecorated lobby area. 

 

Dean sat in, what appeared to be, the most uncomfortable chair in the whole building. He tried so desperately not to knock over the plant next to him. Seeing Dean struggle with this made Eileen laugh.

 

“Dean Winchester,” the blonde haired gal said. “The elders will see you now.”

 

Dean got up and picked up the plant he knocked over while doing so. Following her, they reached the door to the meeting room right as it opened. 

 

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Castiel said as he bumped right into Dean. He looked up and their eyes met. They stood there awkwardly staring at each other for a moment before Dean broke the silence. 

 

“Umm, excuse me… I just need to…” Dean tried to squeeze himself past Castiel but couldn't seem to break his eye contact. 

 

“Oh, I'm sorry I was just…” Castiel moved to the side to let Dean pass by. It was going to be real hard getting the image of those green eyes out of his head. 

 

Dean walked into the room. They had replaced the boxed area with a chair. He was promptly directed to sit down. He sat there and nervously waited for the elders to come out. The door creaked open and out came the five elders. 

 

“Dean Winchester, how are you today?” Madam Harvelle spoke clearly. 

 

“Honestly, Madam, a bit nervous.” Dean looked at his hand because he felt a tingling on his palm. He looked away so he wouldn't be distracted by it. 

 

“There is no reason to be nervous, we are going to simply tell you a few laws about the soulmate markings you have been experiencing.” Madam Harvelle stated. “The first and most important one, you are not allowed to write your own name. Two, you are not allowed to ask for their name.” Dean was trying his best to keep mental notes. “Three, you are not allowed to ask anything personal about the other person. Four, you are allowed to come and ask us questions about it.” She saw Dean fidgeting with his hand. “Are you experiencing it now, Mr. Winchester?”

 

“Yes, I am. Is it supposed to tickle like this?” He asked while wanting to scratch his hand. 

 

“May I see it?” She asked, ignoring his question as she reached out her hand for his. Dean got up and let her look at his had. “Just by seeing what hand you have given me, I can tell you only one thing about your soulmate.” Dean tilted his head questioningly. “They are left handed, Mr. Winchester.” She studied the mark on Dean's hand intently, moving it around to see all possible angles of it. “Thank you for showing me that, Mr. Winchester. I know you didn't have to. That is a very private thing to experience.” 

 

“Please, you can call me Dean,” he said as he sat back down. 

 

“Very well, Dean. Please give us one moment to discuss something.” The elders turned their chairs around and began to whisper to each other. Occasionally, Dean would see one look over to him and smile. They concluded their mini meeting and turned back around. “Forgive us, let me conclude by telling you the fifth and final rule. We do not pick your soulmate, Dean. The Magic, and more importantly, destiny do. You cannot change that.” Madam Harvelle gave Dean a knowing look. “Remember from what you have been taught, Dean, you will always see what they write now. So maybe, you should start writing too.” Dean swore he saw her wink at him. “You are excused. Oh, and Happy Birthday.”

 

“Thank you.” Dean smiled and left the room looking down at his hand. The symbol he had come to know so well had shown up on the palm of his hand. This time it was very a prominent shade of black, most likely done with a permanent marker. This silly little symbol was starting to grow on him, if only he could figure out what it meant.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean writes his first note.

A ball of nerves tightened in Dean's gut. He let out a heavy sigh as he grabbed the pen off of the desk in his bedroom. He closed his eyes and rolled his head around, trying to calm himself down. This was a big deal after all. He let out one more sigh as the pen touched the palm of his hand. Remembering the rules he was told a week ago, Dean wrote the first thing that came to his mind.

  
I don’t know you.  
You don't know me.  
But I hope to find you one day.

  
He put the pen back down and looked at his left hand. He contemplated if he said the right thing. Assured he didn't say anything wrong, he got up from his desk and went to eat breakfast. Before he could finish he heard his phone go BING! It was Bobby telling him he better hurry up and get to work. He had a full day ahead of him.

  
He dusted off the rest of his breakfast and hurried off to work but not before going to the bathroom and washing the ink off of his hand.

  
Once he arrived at work, he knew Bobby wasn't lying about them being busy. He grabbed his jumpsuit and ran to the office.

  
“Full work load today, boy. Don't even think about getting out of here early.” Bobby frowned then tossed a heavy clipboard at Dean. “Cole, Garth, and Benny are all booked today too. Not sure what is happening, I blame the weather.”

  
“Wow,” Dean looked over his workload for the day. “I better get working.” The morning went by rather quickly, only one oil change, a flat tire and a starter replacement. Lunch was typical, call Sam see how he is doing with his training. He got the date for his elder initiation so now he can go beg Bobby to let him have the day off. He held the pen for his clipboard, and for one brief moment in time, he thought about writing something on his hand again. Seeing his next appointment being pushed in made him change his mind against it.

  
*****

  
Castiel woke up to a feeling he had never experienced before. The tingling sensation on his hand was new for him. It almost gave him chills as he watched the letters appear.

I don't know you.  
You don't know me.  
But I hope to find you one day.

Castiel leaned back against the headboard of his bed and was awestruck by the writing. He so badly wanted to write something back, but as this was the first time he had seen this, he didn't want to come off as too eager. Instead he just watched it until it faded away. If Castiel said he didn't shed a tear seeing that on his hand, he would be lying. _They were right. There is someone for me._ He closed his eyes and smiled. "Today is going to be a good day."

  
Castiel treated himself to his favorite breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and fresh brewed coffee. He didn't have a class today, so he could take all the time he wanted before going to his office to grade papers. Now, he could just do it at home, but why mix business with pleasure?

With breakfast out of the way, Castiel finished his routine with a shower, shave, and change of clothes. He grabbed his keys and took off for his car. Something was wrong. He turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. “No! No no Nononononono not today! Please not today!” Castiel tried so desperately to turn on his car. Click! Vroom! It started. “Oh thank you!” He rubbed the dash. He pulled out the drive and went south.

  
Castiel had never prayed so much in his life that his car would make it stay working. But, alas, the prayers did not work. He got about ten miles down the road and thankfully he managed to pull over to the side. He tried to steady his breath but it was rather shaky. He took out his phone and called his insurance company, who told him there was a mechanic down the road from where he was, just to send them the bill. With number in hand he called.

“Bobby’s, this is Bobby.”

“Uhh hi, my name is Castiel,”

“Boy, you gotta speak up, it's loud in here.”

Castiel gulps. “Sorry,” he spoke louder. “My car broke down. I am less than a mile away. Do you have any openings today?”

Bobby checked the schedule. “Lucky for you, I just had someone cancel. Can you get it here by 12:30?”

“I'm sure I can get it there by then.”

“Fantastic, go to bay two. By the way, what kind of car is it, so we know what to look out for?”

“It is a yellow 1971 Dodge Charger super bee,” Castiel said proudly.

“71’ super bee you say?”

Castiel can hear a faint voice in the background ask if they are the ones who gets to work on the bee. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, see you soon.” Bobby hung up the phone.

“Yes, Dean, you get to work on the bee, after lunch. Now go!”

                  *****

Dean looked up from his clipboard to see the yellow Charger being pushed by several men. He let out a whistle. “Little further guys! Okay stop!” Dean gave the car a walk around before popping the hood. He wasted no time doing a diagnostics check and checking all the spark plugs and fluids.

  
Castiel went to the office and signed the paperwork giving them the authority to look at his car. He sat in the waiting room. Only ten minutes had passed and Castiel was getting anxious. Because he didn't have a pen to do his normal anxiety relief, he opted for the next best thing. He was damn determined to check on his car. He slinked past the office windows and onto the floor. Carefully crawling and trying not to knock anything over or put his hand in oil, he managed to get to the passenger side of the car.

  
Castiel slowly started to peer over the passenger side of the open engine. Dark hair, then bright blue eyes appeared, slowly nose, then mouth. He rested his arms on the side of the car and put his chin on his hands. “Watcha doin?” Castiel smiled and shifted his head to one side.

  
Dean, startled by Castiel, whacked his head on the hood of the Dodge Charger.  
“Sonofabitch! Fixing your damn car, dude.” He rubbed his head. He was sure he would feel that in the morning.

  
“What part?” Castiel started to poke at the engine out of curiosity.

  
“The serpentine belt,” Dean huffed.

  
“What does that do?” Castiel was rather intrigued.

  
“It gets you the hell out of my face.” Dean's ears were starting to turn red with anger.

  
Castiel stood up. “Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.” He bit the inside of his bottom lip. “I'll just go back to the waiting area now.”

  
“Yeah, that would be a good idea.” He rubbed his head again.

  
“One last thing,” Castiel turned around.

  
“WHAT?” He glared at him.

  
“Do you happen to have a pen I could borrow?” Dean sighed and tossed his extra pen to Castiel. He caught it flawlessly.

  
It was just then when Dean caught a glimpse of his eyes. That's the guy from the elders. The one who was in my way.

  
Castiel gulped. Those were the green eyes that had been haunting his mind all week. “Thank you,” he almost stuttered. He dropped the eye contact and went back to the waiting area.

  
 _Oh my God, Cas, get it together. They are just eyes._ _They are just eyes._ Castiel let out almost a meditation like breath. He held the pen rather loosely in his hand and without even thinking, drew the horn of Gabriel on his hand. The anxiety seemed to wash away. Thankfully, he could still see at least part of his car from the spot he had chosen in the waiting area.

  
*****

 _That's the guy from the elders. The one who was in my way._ Dean's eyes could almost darken with rage. He let out a few calming breaths and turned around to go back to work on the Charger. He was unpackaging the new belt when he felt the familiarness of what was happening. Before he could even blink, it was on his hand. The same stupid symbol that always showed up, with the exception of the numbers that one time. He still hadn't gotten around to looking up what it could possibly be. He just knew he needed to cover it before it distracted him any more.

He reached for a pair of work gloves and slipped them on. He made quick work of replacing the belt and took off to the office to ask for the keys. Castiel saw him and he perked up his head in interest. Following Dean's every move, he watched him get into the car and start it right up with no problems. The sigh of relief from both of them was overwhelming. He told Bobby the address he could send the bill to and ran over and was about to hug Dean when he caught himself. Instead he extended his hand to shake Dean's.

  
Dean looked down at Castiel's extended hand and saw the mark, then back up to his face. His eyes widened as he shook his hand, not even bothering to remove the glove. The look of shock turned into a look of confusion. He broke the handshake and excused himself. “Bobby, I need five.” He ran out back.

  
Castiel stood motionless before remembering he had papers left to grade. He closed the hood of his bee and left for his office.

  
Dean leaned against the back of the garage and braced himself on his knees. Trying to steady his breath, he couldn't help but think, 'No, nu-uh… no. Not that annoying featherbrain. Why… ' he was unsure why but part of him wanted to panic, the other part reminding him of the last rule. 'We don't chose your soulmate. The magic and more importantly destiny do.' Destiny. That word rang in his ears. "Maybe I just saw things. Maybe it wasn't the same thing." He ripped off his glove. It was still there. ''Yeah, I'm sure I am seeing things. I mean, there is no way.'' He put his glove back on and looked at his watch. Two more appointments. Then I can go home and shake this off.

The rest of his shift was slower than a snail with no motivation. But he made it through. He was so scatterbrained he forgot to clock out. ''Shit, I'll just text Bobby. It will be okay.'' He went home, and planned to lock himself in his room for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going to try and keep to a Tuesday and Thursday schedule. 
> 
> Also would like to thank everyone for the positive comments, it really drives me to write more for you guys.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's initiation day!

Castiel looked down at his left hand. It had been blank for what felt like days. Closing his eyes, he decided to try one last measure, prayer. They say prayer is the last hope of a desperate man, and for Castiel's sake he hoped they were wrong. He prayed with his eyes closed so tightly he was sure to see stars when he opened them again. What he prayed for was nothing short of a miracle. He opened his eyes and leaned back in his office chair, when suddenly he heard a knock on his office door.

“Come in,” he said loud enough for whoever was on the other side to hear.

“Professor Novak?” Sam poked his head into the door.

“Sam! Come on in. What can I help you with today?” Castiel smiled for the first time that day.

“I got the invitations for my elder initiation, and I wanted to give you one of them. I am allowed to only bring a few people.” Sam reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope to hand to his professor.

“I wouldn't miss it for the world, Sam.” He graciously took the envelope and put it in his briefcase to take back home with him. “Are you nervous about it at all?”

“No, not anymore. Eileen keeps me pretty grounded to reality these days.” Sam looked down at his feet and kicked the air.

“I'm sure she does.” Castiel nodded as Sam said his goodbyes.

*****

Feb. 1st

Sam ran around the apartment, only bumping into Dean three times. “Breathe, you will be fine.” Dean stopped his brother and straightened his tie. Sam whipped his head behind him as soon as he heard the knock on the door. As fast as Sam ran to the door, Dean could have sworn that his brother was The Flash.

“Eileen! Hey!” Sam opened the door and gave her a huge hug. “You've met Dean,” he gestured for her to come inside.

“Yes, I have,” she responded. “Pleasure to see you again, Dean.” She turned away from Dean, and without speaking signed ‘How much sign language does he know?’

‘Does the alphabet count?’ He signed back. They both laughed.

“Luckily for you, I know how to read lips.” She said as she turned back to Dean, who let out a sigh of relief.

“We should probably get going. I want to find a good parking spot.” Dean tossed his keys in the air and caught them in his fist.

They all loaded up into the Impala. Sam even let Eileen have the front seat. Even leaving early, they found it hard to find a good spot. _Row G, spot 23_. Dean made a mental note.

The walk up to the building, in Sam’s mind, took forever. Beep beep! A flash of yellow passed by and Sam waved.

 _No_. Dean’s mind sent him flashes of blue eyes, and his head reminded him of when he whacked it on the hood of that Charger. _Maybe he was just passing by. Maybe it wasnt him who honked._ Dean blinked back to reality as they entered the building.

  
“This is where I have to go.” Sam pointed to a hallway in the other direction. “I'll see you guys inside.”

Dean put out his arm for Eileen. “Right this way m’lady.” She took his arm and they found their reserved seats right in the front. Now Dean might not have done good in school, but he knew how to count. He distinctively counted three reserved seats and two of them. He tapped Eileen on the shoulder. “Do you know who else is supposed to be joining us?”

She looked past him to the empty reserved seat next to him. “No idea.” She shrugged.

“Sorry, excuse me, sorry, right behind ya.” Dean could hear a familiar, deep, gravely voice. His eyes widened.

 _You have got to be kidding me._ He faced Eileen so he didn't have to interact, but it was fruitless.

“Are these the spots reserved for Sam’s guests?” Castiel tapped Dean on the shoulder.

“Yup.” Dean turned around, out of courtesy to Castiel and their eyes met once more. This guy! Ugh! How does Sam even know him?

“Professor!” Eileen leaned over Dean and shook his hand. “Glad you could make it.”

“Me too Eileen. Wouldn't miss this! It's going to be the talk of the town for years.” Castiel smiled and tried to avoid Dean's glare.

Dean readjusted himself so he was facing Eileen again. “Professor?”

“He's Sam’s history professor.” Eileen responded with a smile. “It's his favorite class.”

Dean sat back in his chair and crossed his arms in a huff. _How is his class Sam's favorite? What a noodlebrain._ Suddenly the door opened and people quickly shuffled to find a seat. The five elders clad in lush purple robes came in and sat at their seats.

“Today we say goodbye to one of our greats, and hello to our newest elder.” Madam Harvelle spoke as she stood up and gestured to the man on the far left. “Roman has been with us for many, many years and has decided to retire. We did an extensive search, and we found and trained who we believe to be the perfect replacement for Roman.” She sat back down. “Before we introduce and initiate our newest elder, I must remind everyone this is a solemn event and to please remain silent throughout the process.”

Dean swore she looked right at him when she said that. He looked around to just make sure and gave her a confused look that almost screamed ‘Are you talking about me?’ If any look said ‘Who else would I be talking about?’ It was that one. Dean huffed again and slouched a little in his chair.

“Roman would like to say a few words,” Madam Harvelle added.

“Thank you all for coming…” As the man went on about how much the community meant to him and what a great time he had being an elder, Dean couldn't help but almost doze off. He would have too if Eileen didn't elbow him in the ribs.

“Ow!” Dean said loud enough to get a glare from Madam Harvelle. “Sorry,” he said softly as Roman finally finished his speech.

Roman stood up, “Now, may I introduce my replacement and our newest elder, Sam Winchester!” The doors in the back of the room flung open. Dean had to suppress his urge to scream and holler in excitement. Instead he took a page out of Eileen's book and waved his hands in a sign language version of a clap.

Sam came in carrying a single white candle. He walked slowly so the flame didn't blow out, holding his breath the whole way to the front altar. When he got to the front, he glanced over and saw all three of his reserved seats taken. He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. Looking back up, he nodded for the interpreter to go over to Eileen's side of the room because she wouldn't be able to read his lips from that angle.

“Sam Winchester,” Roman started. “You have been chosen to become an elder because of your dedication to academia and to the community. We feel you are the best fit to help guide and lead generations to come. Please light the candle.”

Sam walked up to a large candle with five strong wicks.

“The first wick symbolizes strength. The strength you will need to help the community efficiently.” With each description, Sam lit the corresponding wick. “The second wick symbolizes the integrity needed to sustain this position. The third wick symbolizes the courage needed to stand up for what is right. The fourth wick symbolizes the never ending quest for knowledge. The fifth and final wick represents the magic that one must learn to maintain traditions.” With the final wick lit, Sam placed his candle in the holder next to the one he just lit. “By lighting this candle you have agreed to live up to these values as our newest elder and take my place in the council.”

Sam knelt on one knee as Roman removed his robe and placed it on Sam. “This robe had been blessed with the magic of our past, present, and future. Wear it well Mr. Winchester. Wear it well.” Sam nodded and walked up the three steps to join the rest of the elders. Roman turned around to face the crowd. “Ladies and gentleman, it is my honor as now former elder to announce our newest initiated elder, Sam Winchester!” The whole room erupted in applause as Sam waved. He looked over to Dean who simply mouthed ‘I'm so proud of you,’ making Sam tear up.

After the initiation was all over, the elders threw an amazing cocktail party. There was a DJ, finger foods, and an open bar. Anybody who was anybody was invited, and this included Sam’s three guests of honor. As soon as Dean saw the open bar, he made a beeline right for it. He ordered two whiskeys and a white wine and took them over to the table that was reserved for them. He handed Eileen the white wine, and when Sam came over to get his drink, he found out very quickly that Dean had already chugged it. In retrospect, he should have got the drinks.

The party was a buzz. There was plenty of laughter. Lots of people Sam had never met saying congratulations. Once Sam had made his way to every table, he rejoined his guests of honor.

Dean had strategically placed himself between Sam and Eileen, that way he didn't have to sit next to the blue eyed mystery professor. He didn't take into effect that sitting in this spot would perfectly position himself to have to look at him all night, if he decided to stay at the table, and he did not plan on that at all. Once all the toasts were done, he was down two more drinks. Dean decided he was best left to make sure the bar didn't move, and boy, did he do that well.

Dean was several drinks in, when he finally realized that the bar wasn't going anywhere, that he hadn't given his brother a proper congratulations.

"Sammy! My main man!" Sam thought there was no way he is drunk already, Dean isn't a light weight.

"Hey... Dean?" Sam nudged Eileen. "You... okay?" Eileen's eyes got wide at the sight of Dean.

"Never...better." Okay, something was up.

"Dean, you are never like this. How many drinks have you had?" Sam made Dean sit down.

Dean looked up as if he was a first grader trying to do math. His lips moving ever so slightly as he does so. "12 or...15?" He looked back at Sam.

"15?!" He knew the second number was probably more accurate. "That's it, I'm getting you a ride home."

"Eileen, Eileen, come here." Dean motioned and Eileen squatted on the floor in front of him. "Read... read my lips." Dean chuckled while he pointed to his lips and simply mouthed 'I think, I think.... Sam .... loves you.'

Eileen looked up at Sam and signed, so Dean couldn't understand, 'You're right, he needs to go home.' Then she let out a laugh.

Sam handed Dean a glass of water and looked around for who could possibly give his brother a ride home. Just then, Castiel walked by. "Professor Novak!" Sam waved him down. "Professor, could you give my, for some reason, very drunk brother home?"

"Of course, Sam, we don't need him driving in that state." Sam wrote down their address and handed it to Castiel. The two men picked up Dean by the arms and helped him to the yellow car waiting in the parking lot.

"Ugh, not this car again." Dean groaned and reluctantly got into the car. "Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing car...It's just the owner..."

"Okay, Dean! Have a good rest. I will be home soon." Sam cut him off before he could say anything stupid.

"You... too." Dean closed the door and slouched in the seat.

Castiel drove very carefully, as to not upset Dean. "Dean?" He nudged him. "We are here, time to go inside." Dean groaned against the door.

Castiel ran around to the other side so he could help Dean walk. He was so thankful that the apartment was on the main floor. He wasn't sure if he could help him up steps. They got to the apartment, and Dean fumbled with the only key Sam allowed him to take with him. Noticing his frustration, Castiel took the key and unlocked the door. Cool air immediately hit the two men.

Dean turned around to get his key and locked eyes with Castiel. It was silent and slightly awkward. Both wanting to look away but couldn't. "Thanks..." Dean broke the uncomfortable silence.

Castiel blinked. "Not a problem." He wanted to say more. The only problem was, he couldn't. Even if he could he was unsure what he wanted to say. Instead he just left with a nod.

Dean collapsed on the couch and fell asleep. Sam came home a few hours later to hear his brother snoring loudly. He covered Dean with a blanket and went to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's Day!

Dean ripped down a flyer on the bulletin board in the lobby of his apartment building.

**Papa O'Mally's Green Day V-Day singles’ night!**

**Forget the traditional red and pink hearts and come wearing green for our Valentine's Day singles only event!**

**Half priced drinks from 8-2 for singles and only singles! No exceptions!**

_Half priced drinks for being single?_ _Not gonna pass that up._ Dean checked the mail and went back down the hall to his apartment. "Afternoon, Sam. You and Eileen have any plans tonight?"

"We sure do, I have dinner reservations, and then we are going to see a movie tonight." Dean rolled his eyes at how cliché his brother could be sometimes. "What about you Mr. 'I'm so desperately single'?"

Dean slammed the flyer on the table. "Singles’ night, going to be crawling with hot, single women." Dean gave a nod, trying to get approval from his brother, who only rolled his eyes. "Like I need your permission anyway." Dean mumbled as he went to get ready for his shower.

Sam's Skype alarm chimed right as he heard the shower turn on. "Hi Eileen! Are you excited for tonight?"

"You betcha!" She had the most adorable smile of happiness. "What's your brother have planned?"

"Some stupid singles’ night, at an Irish bar of all places." Sam rolled his eyes again.

"He's 25 right? Has he seen any markings?" Eileen pointed to her hand. The shower stopped.

'He has, and I've seen it too.' He has switched to signing.

'You have?' Eileen joins him. She knows when he does that it is to keep their conversation private.

'Yes, and I'm pretty sure I've seen its counterpart too.'

Eileen's eyes got big with curiosity. Just as Sam was going to say something, Dean came out of the bathroom in just a towel. "Jesus, Dean! Put some clothes on! I'm talking to Eileen!"

"Oh, how rude of me! Hi Eileen!" He waved to the computer but didn't leave.

"Dude!" Sam glared daggers in his brother's direction.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going! Don't get your panties in a wad!" Dean shook his head and went to get clothes on.

'Where was I? Oh yeah! So I've learned I can tell someone I found a pair, just not the pair themselves.' Eileen can barely hold in her excitement. 'You have to promise not to tell, okay?'

'I promise. Can you just tell me already? I'm dying here.' She's never signed so fast in her life.

'I swear, his match is Professor Novak.'

Her jaw drops. 'No way.'

'No joke. I could be wrong, but I swear I saw the symbol he always draws on Dean's hand. You know...' and he quickly drew it and showed her. 'That one.' He tore the page out of his notebook and quickly shoved it in his pocket.

'You know,' she looked like she was thinking. 'I can see it.' She nodded.

'Actually, I can too. When I saw them sitting next to each other at my initiation, you could tell.'

'Imagine sitting next to Dean. He was so squirmy and it was awkward.' They both had a chuckle. 'Dean, 6:00'

"Nice... shirt." That was the first thing he noticed as he turned around and saw his brother. "Very... Green. Really brings out your eyes."

"Shut up, Sam." He pushed his brother in his chair. "Don't wait up for me."

"Oh trust me," Sam stifled a laugh. "I won't." He watched as his brother left the apartment and quickly brought his attention back to his girlfriend. "Oh my God, did you see what he was wearing?" They both had a good laugh.

*****

"I don't know what he is talking about. I think I look good." Dean adjusted his tie. He had chosen the classic business attire approach. The only problem with this was the silk-green button up he chose. But in Dean's defense, it did look good with the black of the suit jacket and tie. He drove up to Papa O'Mally's and noticed they had gone all out and even had a valet parking for the night. He waited his turn and handed them the keys to his baby. "One scratch on her, and I will kick your ass. Capiché?"

Inside was decorated like it was St. Patrick's day, only difference was instead of four-leaf clovers everywhere, they were replaced by green hearts. Even the drinks were dyed green. It was like St. Patrick's day had an illegitimate child with Valentine's Day. It was disgusting.

Remembering, well sort of remembering, Sam's after party for his initiation, Dean felt it best to stick with beer tonight. Green beer in hand, he slinked over to a small group of single ladies all talking to each other at the same time about different things. How anyone could keep up with five different conversations was beyond Dean's comprehension right now. "Hey, can I buy you lovely ladies a round? You should all be drinking for free. These men here don't know what they're ignoring." He winked at the tallest one.

The prettiest woman replied, “You can, but it won't do what you're hoping. Bartender doesn't know we’re lesbians, and our bar isn't having half priced drinks.”

Another woman spoke up. “I didn't even want to come. My girlfriend had to work tonight. She's a cop.” She smirked.

Dean not sure how to respond to those rejections walked away. He looked for another single woman, preferably one who was alone. He found one near the bar and offered to buy her a drink. "No one should drink alone."

"Yeah, I'm not alone. My boyfriend just got here." She waved at the guy at the end of the bar and moved toward him.

Just then a girl bumped into him. "Sorry, be my pretend boyfriend for a second? This guy is really creeping me out."

"I'm dean." She was kinda cute. Then the creeper came up behind her.

“Hey, I thought you wanted a drink?” a clearly drunk nerdy looking guy was talking to the girl in front of Dean.

“I said I could get my own if I wanted one,” she replied.

“Dude,” Dean spoke up. “Leave my girl alone.” He slipped one arm around her waist. She played along.

The nerdy guy looked disappointed and mumbled something about dumb jock types always getting the girl as he walked away. The girl looked relieved. “Sorry about that. He was really creepy and made me uncomfortable.”

“Well I know you can buy your own drinks, but how about I get one for my fake girlfriend?” He smiled.

“Just one.” When Dean returned a moment later, she told him how nice he was. “I figured you would help me out. You look really nice for a gay guy.”

Dean was confused. “I'm not gay.”

She didn't believe him. “That get up says you are. Plus half of the guys in here have been staring at you all night.” She giggled as she walked away with Dean glaring around the room.

He found a spot at the very end of the bar, so he could see pretty much the whole room. The people coming in seemed to have a pattern, girl, girl, guy, girl, guy, guy, and repeating. After people watching for about an hour and Dean being on only his second green beer, a young gal with ash-brown hair and green eyes came over and sat next to him.

"Hi, I'm Dean." He extended his hand.

"Joy." She shook Dean's hand back.

"Well, Joy, it's a joy to meet you." If that line worked, it would be short of a miracle.

"Oh," Joy sighed. "How many times I have heard that tonight." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I realized after I said that how cheesy it was. It's just, I don't normally come to these types of events. I am more of a regular Tuesday kinda guy." Dean rubbed the rim of his beer, took the final drink and ordered them both another drink. "So, Joy to the world, having any luck in the soulmate department?" You could almost hear her eyes roll at that name.

"Not yet," she said as she also thanked the bartender for the new green mixed drink.

"Me either, you would think so, being 25 and all." Joy's eyes perked up.

"Have you seen your markings yet?" She tried to look at his hands.

"No, not yet." An obvious lie. "Maybe my soulmate isn't 25 yet." He winked at her.

"Hmm... maybe." She shrugged. "I hope you find him." She put her hand on his shoulder, gave him a wink, and walked away.

  
“I'm not…” before he could even finish his thought, she was gone.

Dean followed her and the short powdered green dress she was wearing with his eyes as she walked near the door. His eyes got distracted by the movement of the door. Good timing too as he had already lost Joy in the small sea of people. In the sea of green, Dean swore he saw two specks of blue that were getting slightly larger as they approached the other end of the bar.

Dean tried to steady his breath as he saw Castiel sit down, right in his line of sight. "Why the hell is HE here? I swear Sam must have said something to him." Dean prayed that Castiel couldn't see him. He was relieved when he saw a shorter redhead go up to Castiel and start talking. The two of them started laughing. Unsure why this made him uncomfortable, Dean chugged the rest of his drink and left for the valet parking.

*****

The low rumble of the 71' Dodge Charger was unmistakable as he pulled up to Papa O'Mally's. Dressed in jeans and a forest green t-shirt that simply read 'Kiss me I'm pretending to be Irish' Castiel walked in and found a seat near the door. He chose this for easy escape should he become nervous. He ordered a beer and sat down. Looking around to see if he knew anyone, a familiar face runs up.

"Hi, Professor Novak!" the redhead said.

"Oh, hi, Anna. It's good to actually know someone here. Makes me feel less weird." Castiel smiled at the sight of seeing his TA.

"When did you get here?" She almost had to yell over the music that had just started playing.

"About five minutes ago." He matched her volume. "It looks stupid in here, doesn't it?" They both had a good laugh over that. Castiel saw a blur of black and green run past him and out the door. He sends a look to Anna that reads both of confusion and wondering if she saw it too. She only reciprocated the look.

“Anyway, I came over to tell you that you have an appointment with your new TA on Thursday at noon.”

“New TA?”

“I got a new job assignment working in a different department. It's okay, I'll still see you around.”

“I'm hope whoever they send me is as hard of a worker as you.” He asked the bartender for a pen and without even hesitating, wrote ‘Thursday noon’ on his wrist. “Would you like a drink?” He motioned for two more from the bartender.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“You can call me Castiel by the way.” He handed her the second drink. “I mean, cause you aren't my TA anymore.”

“Thank you, Cas...tiel. Do you want to join my group? None of us plan on going home with anyone tonight.” She motioned to a small group of moderately attractive woman who all waved back to her. “Unless, you were looking to go home with someone?”

Castiel looked around the room to gauge the singles. “No, I wasn't. Thank you, I'd love to join you guys.” He spent a few hours telling embarrassing work stories of Anna and laughing.

  
*****

Dean practically threw the ticket at the valet driver and let out a huff as he waited for his baby. He calmed down a little when he heard the rumble of the Impala. After forcefully snatching the keys from the valet, he got in the car, slammed the door, started it up, and sped off. Being stopped by every stop light didn't help measures any. By the third light, he felt a tickle on his wrist. He pulled down his sleeve because he was too upset to even want to bother with that. He made a hard right turn to go down back roads to try and avoid the rest of the red lights.

  
Dean made it home before Sam, and he locked himself in his bedroom. He didn't even bother taking off his tie fully. Just his shoes and jacket. Loosening his tie he fell down on his bed. He reached for the nearest pair of headphones and turned on his default playlist. "Why does everyone think I'm gay? I'm not gay. I dated Lisa all through high school." He let out an exaggerated sigh and closed his eyes. "I don't know." He never even bothered to look at what was on his wrist. He was too tired to care. Dean tried so desperately to sleep, but all he could see in his dreams were the flashes of blue eyes looking back at him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He just wants to enjoy the movie.

“Sam, I’m going to the movie marathon at The Roadhouse Theatre. Do you want to come with me?” Dean tossed chocolates in his mouth. “I'll even buy the popcorn.”

“What are they playing?”

“Indiana Jones.”

Sam gave Dean a grimace look. “Even Crystal Skull?”

“God, no! That movie was terrible. It's just the original trilogy.” Dean grabbed his keys. “You coming or what?”

“I can't. I have appointments all day.” Sam tossed an apple in the air and caught it.

“Your loss. More popcorn for me.”

  
*****

Dean almost tripped on the rug as he juggled his popcorn, drink, and candy. He was one of the first ones there, not that many people went to these things, but one could be surprised on this fine breezy spring weekend. It didn't take him long to find the perfect seat, not too close but not in the very back either.

The theater went dark and “Raiders of the lost Ark” started. Even though the movie had started a few more people shuffled in. The theater was dark so it was hard to tell exactly how many people were late to the movie. Dean was content being alone with his popcorn and licorice. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes into the movie before Dean heard a noise coming from behind him.

“Pshhh,” a small laugh followed. “Yeah right,” the deep voice said.

A little annoyed, Dean decided to try and ignore the voice from behind him. This was proving more difficult of a task to do, because what seemed to be every 10 or so minutes it happened again. By the third time Dean decided he was going to see who was making all the ruckus. Dean couldn't have picked a better time in the movie to turn around to see who was there, because right as he went to look at the guy the sun in the movie was high in the sky. This gave him plenty of light to see those marine blue eyes that belonged to Castiel.

 _Oh dear God, not this guy again._ Dean let out a frustrated sigh and turned back, determined to enjoy the rest of the movie. _Maybe he will shut up. One can only hope._  
Dean shoved more popcorn in his mouth right as Castiel let out another ‘psssh’ and a small laugh. It was taking all of Dean's patience not to want to turn around and tell him to knock it off.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” was over and the theatre was giving the movie goers a bathroom break and time to refill drinks and popcorn before they started “The Temple of Doom.” Dean was out in the lobby stretching his legs when out of the corner of his eye he saw Castiel. Dean shot him a glare. _Please don't let him be in the next movie. Please._ He pleaded in his head.

When he got back, he found his same seat with the remainder of the candy he had left. He didn't even notice Castiel come back and find his same seat too. Just like clockwork, about 10 minutes in Dean hears another “Psssh, ha! That's not right.” Dean's jaw was so clenched that even if he wanted to eat his licorice he couldn't. He glared over his shoulder at Castiel, just to see his face beaming while looking at the screen. Because even though he had been making fun of the movies, he was really enjoying himself.

“Ha! Nope.” Dean cringed at the sound.

 _That's it. I'm gonna kick his ass next intermission._ Dean was only holding it together by a string. The movie continued, and Castiel seemed to calm down with his laughing. Dean was getting a little less frustrated but not before he heard what could only be described as a snort come from behind him. _I swear to God if that's him…_ Dean looked over his shoulder to see a very red Castiel trying so desperately to hold in a laugh. _Ok. That's it. I really am gonna kick his ass._

The movie ended, and it was time for the last intermission before “The Last Crusade.” Dean didn't even bother leaving to go to the lobby. He just stood up and quickly turned around.

“Dude! Can you stop with the laughing and the comments every 10 minutes? It's really freaking annoying.” Dean glared at Castiel, who, until that moment, hadn't really paid attention to the fact Dean was there. “I just want to watch the last movie in peace.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think you could hear me. I was just laughing at all the historical inaccuracies, but I can stop.” Castiel looked Dean right in the eyes and gave him a huge smile.

“Th...thanks. I, umm, I appreciate that.” Dean seemed frozen in his thought. “Thanks.” He finally snapped out of it. “I'll, umm, be right back.” Dean slinked out of the row of chairs and out into the lobby to use the restroom.

Castiel watched as Dean walked out in almost a speed walk like fashion. As soon as he was out of sight, Castiel plopped back down on the seat, eyes wide. All he could think about was how upset Dean was.

Dean returned and Cas followed him with his eyes all the way back to his seat. “The Last Crusade” started and Castiel kept silent. This was not an easy task for him, as all he wanted to do was chuckle at the parts they got wrong. His eyes jumping back and forth between the screen and Dean, unconsciously. When a part came up that Dean thought Castiel was going to laugh at he would sneak a look behind him to make sure Castiel didn't laugh. He didn't the whole movie.

The movie ended with a very quiet Castiel. Dean got up to leave, and Castiel wanted to apologize again for his rude behavior. Dean seemed to be in a hurry to leave.

  
*****

  
Dean threw his keys into a bowl by the front door.

“How were your movies?” Sam looked like he had came home just moments before Dean.

“I don't want to talk about it,” Dean huffed.

“But those are some of your favorite movies.” Sam shook his head in confusion.

“Really, Sam. I just want to go to bed. Don't push it. Okay?” Sam just stepped aside and let his brother pass by.

This was another restless night for Dean. Castiel's laugh rang in his ears. His smile swam in his mind. That odd… smile and those blue eyes that sparkled in the dim light of the theatre. _Dean. Stop. He's annoying._ He wrestled with his mind a few more hours before he finally fell asleep.

*****

Castiel put up his no entry sign on his class door. It was finals week and time for the big test. “You have two hours to complete this test. Don't think you will impress me any if you finish in half an hour.” Castiel looked down each row of chairs as he walked down the steps to his desk. Once he reached the bottom, he turned around for one last piece of advice. “Just relax, you guys all know this material. I should know. I grade your papers.” With a little nod to his students, he looked down at his watch. “You may begiiiiiin…. now.”

The fluttering of papers turning echoed in the silent room. Castiel did one last walk through of the classroom before circling back to his desk. He took out a pad of paper and started to doodle. It had dawned on him that he hadn't written on himself in weeks. As he continued to draw his favorite symbol on the pad for what seemed like the 60th time, a knot grew in his stomach. Thoughts started to swim in his head. _Why bother? I can't even watch a movie without annoying someone. Handsome someone… no, Cas, he can't possibly be the one. He can't stand you. The elders said that my soulmate would be easily attracted to me, not severely annoyed. But his eyes… his smile… no!_

Cas leaned his head back and stared at the intricate tile pattern on the ceiling. His mind went back to the time he actually saw writing. 'I don't know you. You don't know me. But I hope to find you one day.' Those were the words that haunted his dreams. "My luck, they already know I'm the one, but my weirdness and awkwardness ruined it. Cas, why do you have to be so freaking weird?" He closed his eyes for just a brief moment. The memory of Dean turning around angry at him flashed and made Castiel quickly open his eyes and sit back up. He let out a long quiet sigh and got up to check on his students again. At least he had a distraction, for now. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You'all know it when you feel it."

“Dean, I know you hate all the festivities going on, but promise me you will be there tonight. Not just for your pouty sake, but because it would be nice to have my brother there for my first ritual.” Sam grabbed the keys to his finally restored Mustang.

“Yes, mother.” Dean said sarcastically and slouched on the couch turning on the tv.

“Seriously, bro, it would be good for you to get some fresh air. All you do is work and sleep.” Sam didn't even bother waiting for dean to give a snarky remark. He just left to go get Eileen and enjoy the summer solstice celebration in progress.

Dean was glad that Sam didn't stay. He wasn't sure how to tell him that he had felt a little empty for the last few months. It would be a lie if he said it wasn't due to the markings on his hand stopping. As the days went by, he prayed that something bad didn't happen. He watched the news every night worried he might see a fatal car crash of someone around his age. Thankfully that hadn't happened and the news had been pretty tame lately.

Dean threw his head back to the back of the couch and punched the cushion next to him. "Damn it, I hate when he is right." He brought his head back up. "Okay, fine, I'll go tonight." He returned his attention to the tv flipping through the channels each commercial break.

  
*****

5:00

“Hey, Sam, Eileen, glad I ran into you guys.” Castiel waved to the couple with a big smile on his face. “Congrats on the graduation again. You know, you were the only one to get a perfect score on my final?”

“You're kidding?” Sam beamed with joy. “Are you enjoying the celebration?”

“I just got here, but do you think I'm too big for the bouncy castle? It looks like fun.” Castiel joked.

“Hmm, maybe a bit,” Eileen laughed at the thought. “Would you like to join us for a pita? The guys from the Pita Pit have a truck here today.”

“I would love to, but I just ate. You two enjoy yourselves.” Castiel smiled as they went their separate ways. He continued to walk along the booths lined up around the edge of the park, just window shopping of sorts as a local band played in the natural amphitheater. Castiel stopped at a booth from a local antique shop. They had an impressive array of old books and pens. He picked up a book and thumbed through the pages before deciding he was going to buy it and a few old fountain pens. After purchasing the items, he quickly took them out to his car because it was starting to get dark soon and that meant the ritual was going to start. After returning to the park, he found a picnic table close to the band and listened to them til an announcement was made.

**It is 7:30, everyone. We ask that everyone please leave the park after the fireworks show. In half an hour's time after the fireworks, only single individuals aged 25 and up may return. We ask for this time to prepare for our yearly ritual. Thank you.**

It didn't take long for everyone to start shuffling around gathering their blankets and chairs once the fireworks display had come to a close. The booths had already been closed and the food trucks gone for the night. Castiel decided that in his half hour wait he was going to try and find a better spot to park. That didn't take much effort as he had gotten lucky before and had a somewhat decent spot to begin with.

It took nearly the entire half hour for all the families to leave. They had blocked off the edges of the park with a mesh plastic fence, to help deter anyone under the age of 25 from entering. The fence was only stopped by a single entrance at either side of the park. Stationed there were workers from the elders office, making sure that no one came in who was underage and that anything that could be used for writing had been taken.

“Back again I see, Mr. Novak,” the blonde haired gal at the gate said.

“Sadly, yes.” Castiel gave almost a defeated look as he made sure to show them that his pockets were empty.

Inside the park, all the picnic tables had moved to the outside edges of the park. The amphitheater had been cleared of all band equipment, and a huge bonfire roared in the very middle. Castiel walked around for a bit before finding familiar faces to talk to.

*****

Bing!

‘Dude. You better be coming tonight!’ Sam texted Dean.

‘Ugh fine. I'm going. Get off my case.’ Dean rolled his eyes and reluctantly got up. ‘Although, I don't see the point.’ He texted back as he locked their apartment door.

‘The point is to support me and to help find your soulmate, you doof.’ It was almost like he had that pre-typed.

‘Riiiiight, like that's gonna happen.’ Dean almost ran into the door to their building.

‘You never know. I'm sure they will be there.’ Sam wished so much to be able to tell Dean, but the laws prohibited that.

Dean got to the park and realized he was running late. His parking spot was less than ideal, but at least it was away from anyone who could potentially scratch his baby. He walked slower than normal, keeping his hands in the pockets of his pants. It was an unseasonably cool summer night, just cool enough to make the bonfire welcoming.

“Name please?” The gal at the gate asked.

“Dean Winchester.” He didn't make eye contact.

“Ah yes! Dean, this is your first one I see. Please remove anything you may have in your pockets and place them on the table.”

Dean took out his keys, phone, and wallet and put them on the table. They nodded for him to take his things back, and he was allowed to enter the park. Once past the gate he searched for Sam.

‘I'm here, where are you?’

‘Turn around.’ Dean turned around and jumped at how close Sam was to him. “I saw you come in.” He smacked Dean on the arm. “Thank you for coming.” He gave his brother a hug.

“Sammy, I have a question. You are an elder now, so maybe you can answer it.” Dean looked down at his shoes.

“What is it?”

“Well… tonight, if I find… ya’know… my soulmate. How will I know?” He looked up at his little brother. He kind of rolled his eyes at the word soulmate.

“From what I have learned, Dean, it's a bit hard to explain because it's different for everyone. Like you’ll know it when you feel it.” Sam shrugged his shoulders. “Go talk to someone. Make new friends. I have to go get ready.”

Sam jogged off to a tent located by the amphitheatre. Dean paused and looked around. A few of his former classmates waved him down, and he went to join them while they waited for the ritual to start.

Dean looked over towards the tent to see if he could tell if it was about to start. In his line of sight, he recognized Castiel. “Um, sorry, guys, I gotta go,” he told his school buddies. He took off in the opposite direction of Castiel and was headed to the exit when suddenly he heard a noise.

Bong!

A low tone bell rang and the tent opened. The five elders came out of the tent in their purple robes. Everyone gathered around the fire in a big semi-circle.

“Tonight is a special night. Tonight we celebrate the summer solstice, but we also help bring love to the community. As it is elder Winchester's first ritual with us, I will let him explain what may happen tonight,” Madam Harvelle announced.

Sam cleared his throat. “There are some things you may be expecting to happen tonight. I would like to clear the air about some rumors I have heard. Yes, this ritual will help find your soulmate better. No, it will not be a visual pull or what may seem …” he searched for the right word. “Magnetic. But you’ll know it when you feel it. Being witness to the ritual will only help push that feeling along.”

“Thank you, Elder Winchester. Now please, if everyone could remain silent, we will be starting the ritual.”

Dean stood in the very back of the crowd, but in a spot where Sam could still see him and know he was there. The elders gathered close to the fire. Each holding a small sack. The first elder started:

**Ex hiis colligitur celebraturi sumus aestate ad se accommodant**

He tossed the contents of his bag into the fire, and the flame changed green for just a split second.

The second elder stepped closer to the fire.

**Eve in aestate nos ad te petere auxilium ad coniungere, ut producat amorem animarum**

She tossed the contents of her bag into the fire, and the flame changed hot pink for just a split second.

Madam Harvelle stepped closer to the fire.

**Intellectus enim petere tua, patientia tua, et nos petere, ut intellectus sententias tuas rogabimus interdum**

She tossed the contents of her bag into the fire, and the flame turned blue for just a split second.

Elder Miles stepped closer to the fire.

**Hunc noctu que annum pro omni vita aeterna**

He tossed the contents of his bag into the fire, and it turned red for just a split second.

Finally, it was Sam’s turn. He stepped closer to the fire nervously and gulped.

**Et simul vitae conferent ad compagem ex duabus animabus exercitatio, fractio cor unum, omne enim cor verberat alio: omnis enim anima est undam**

He tossed the contents of his bag into the fire, and it sent sparks flying into the air, showering over the group of people.

“Hic noster sollemnem ordinationis orationem recitat,” all five elders recited together and the fire grew. The crowed cheered. The lights on the amphitheatre lit up, and another local band walked on the stage. Madam Harvelle joined them.

“Thank you all for coming to this year's ritual. Please enjoy the rest of your night and the music of, Shotgun Payday!” Dean could have sworn he heard her say “Is that really their name?” as she walked off the stage.

The band started playing a cover of some corny 80s song. Dean pushed through people trying to find his brother to tell him he was going home. Everyone seemed to be either heading for the stage, or the beer tent that nobody realized had been opened while the ritual was going on. Dean decided to give up looking and sent his brother a text saying he was going instead. While looking down at his phone not paying attention to where he was going, he managed to bump into someone, knocking them over.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Dean said as he reached out his hand to help them up.

“It's okay. You'd be surprised how many times that happens.” Dean looked down and caught a glimpse of the person he was helping up. The lights from the sage hit him at just the right angle to see those familiar blue eyes looking back at him, now level with him.

“S..sorry, Professor Novak,” Dean didn't know when he developed a stutter.

“Castiel, or you can call me Cas.” Castiel looked down to see he was still holding Dean's hand. Dean also looked down and let go of Cas’s hand.

“I… I was just telling Sam I was going home.” He tried to look anywhere but at the man in front of him. “If you see him, can you…”

“Yeah… I mean sure.” Castiel couldn't look away. He just stood there and staring at Dean.

“Thanks…” Dean gulped and went to pass Cas, bumping into his shoulder as he did so. “Sorry…” he added again as he looked back at Castiel. He almost didn't look back in time because he was inches away from knocking someone's beer out of their hand. Get it together, man. Dean left the park and went home. The whole drive home the scene of him helping Castiel up played over and over in his mind, and the man's touch still warm on his hand.

  
*****

Castiel stood there motionless after Dean had left. His heart beat faster than normal. His hand was still out like it was when Dean helped him up. His trance was broken by Sam putting a beer in his outstretched hand.

“Cas, you ok?” he asked nudging him.

“Ye...yes. I'm… perfect actually.” He was startled to see the beer in his hand. “Thanks.”

“Did I miss something? You have this stupid grin on your face.” Sam chuckled.

“Yeah… no. But, umm, your brother said he is going home for the night.” His smile grew.

“Oh! You ran into Dean? I was just looking for him.”

“More like, he ran into me,” he laughed.

“Well, now, that I know where he is. I can enjoy the rest of the night. Was nice seeing you, Cas.” Sam tipped his cup up to Castiel and took off to let Eileen come back into the park as his guest. Castiel looked down at his beer, deciding he didn't really want it and gave it to the nearest person who gladly accepted it. Normally, he would stay for the after party, but there was a feeling in his gut that told him ‘go home, you shouldn't be here’. So that was exactly what he did, and he didn't regret leaving the party one bit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to who ever takes the time to translate the Latin in this chapter lol.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Castiel! Hope you like your present!

Castiel took a drink of his morning coffee as he reached for the newspaper on the table.

“Hm, it's the 18th, Happy Birthday to me.” Castiel let out a small sigh as he sat down at his small kitchen table and scanned the paper for any story that might look even remotely interesting to him. He found nothing of interest so he opted for doing the crossword in the back of the issue.

It was a crisp almost Autumn day and school had just started up again. New lecture series, new students, same loneliness. Only difference being Castiel had a new weekend routine. Luckily for him, today was both a Friday and his birthday, like that made any difference to him. He finished his crossword in what seemed like record time and was now bored. His classes were on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays this term so he had plenty of down time. Castiel, feeling deflated by the outcome of the summer solstice, once again drew his favorite symbol on the daily newspaper instead of his hand.

“I don't even know why I bothered to try in the first place.” Any chance of a smile had left his thoughts lately. He sighed again. “Guess I should go do some shopping before I go out tonight.” He put on a light jacket and decided to walk to the store.

  
*****

“Dean?” Sam asked as he almost jogged past his brother sitting on a park bench. “What are you doing in a park? This isn't your natural habitat.”

“I just needed some fresh air,” Dean squinted from the sun while he tried to look at Sam.

“Is everything okay, Dean?” Sam took out his earbuds and sat next to Dean on the bench.

“Yes…” he paused. “No, not really.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Sam tried to look at Dean's face, which was now down looking at his clasped hands in his lap.

“What is this? A chick flick? I’m fine.”

“If you insist.” Sam may not have known what was going on, but it was obvious it was something. He just wished he would open up to him and let him know. Maybe he could even help him. “Promise me you won't sit here all day and pout? Actually go and do something tonight?” Dean nodded his head and Sam returned to his jog.

“Well, he's right,” Dean said to himself as he got up off the bench. “No sense sitting here drawing attention to myself.” He took the short walk from the park bench to his car and got in. He opened the glove box and searched for a pen, all he could find was a sharpie. “This will have to work.” He rolled up the sleeve of his jacket slightly and wrote a ‘V’ with a little squiggle of an arch over it. He sighed. “I wish I could remember what it actually looked like,” he mumbled as he put the lid back on the marker. “I guess it's close enough.” He rolled his sleeve back down and left the park to go back home.

‘Hey guys, Sam wants me to go out tonight. Idk why. Maybe because he wants the place to himself. Anyway, you up for the bar tonight?’ Dean sent a group text to a few work buddies and got a resounding yes, and one ‘It's about time you left your apartment.’

‘See you at the bar at 8:00.’ He sent one last text and then went to take a nap so would be refreshed for the evening.

*****

“Can I help you find anything?” a store clerk asked Castiel as he scanned the shelves of the canned food aisle.

“No, thank you. I think I know where it is.” He flashed a forced smile to the clerk, who went along with their work. He found what he needed in that aisle and as he continued shopping he felt a tingle on his wrist. This made him freeze in the middle of the aisle. _Nope, not gonna look._ He stepped aside to let a man with a cart pass him. _No way am I gonna look._ He pulled his sleeve down further so he couldn't see it, went to the next aisle, and tried to forget it was there. He finished all of his shopping successfully without looking down at his wrist and even for that moment succeeded in forgetting about it.

It wasn't until he got back home and was taking off his coat that he caught a glimpse of it. “Psssh, seriously? That's not even how you draw it. If you are gonna mock me, at least draw it right.” Castiel rolled his eyes and went back to putting away his groceries.

  
*****

“Hey, Cas, the usual?” the bartender asked.   
“Actually, Jo, scotch. Neat. It's my birthday.” Castiel didn't smile at the thought.

“Well, for the birthday boy, first round is on us.” Jo winked as she handed Cas the glass. He sat at the very end of the bar, tucked away in the corner in hopes that no one could see him. He didn't waste any time on his first round, before ordering another.

“Before I serve you drinks all night, Cas, as your now friend I need to know. Did you drive?” Jo glared at the man, who over the last few weeks had become a regular.

“If you are really my friend, Jo… you would know that I took an Uber here.” A smile almost appeared at her concern. Content with his answer, she poured him another drink before attending to the group of rowdy guys that had just come into the bar. Castiel just sat there slowly drinking his scotch watching the group of guys that just came in. The somber look on his face turned to intrigued when a familiar face walked in. Dean didn't bother to take his coat off, in fact he made sure his sleeves were pulled down.

“Yo! Deano!” The group of men called out to him. There were smiles all around and high fives and more commotion as soon as he walked in.

Castiel gulped, downed his drink and quickly flagged down Jo for another round. “Keep my tab open tonight, I have a feeling I'm gonna need it,” Castiel warned her.

“Sounds good, Cas. Just glad you aren't driving yourself home.” She learned very quickly working at the somewhat run down bar not to ask questions.

Dean laughed with his friends and started to walk over to order his own drink. “You know what, better make is a double,” he quickly added before her attention was taken to the other side of the bar. Castiel's eyes widened as he watched Dean approach the bar and order a beer. He just hoped that he didn't see him sitting there because all Dean would be able to see was Castiel staring at him.

Dean paid for his beer and gave Jo a decent tip. He rejoined his friends who were now playing pool in the corner of the bar. After several rounds of pool and several drinks later, for both Dean and Castiel, it was finally Dean's turn to play. They racked the balls, and he was set to break. Dean lined up the cue ball and looked up right as he was about to break and he froze at the sight of Castiel. The smile dropped from his face, “Guys, I'm sorry, I gotta go.”

His friends were inherently confused and tried to ask if everything was okay. “I just need some air, okay?” He never lost eye contact with Castiel. Dean left the bar and a confused and fairly tipsy Castiel followed him at a respectful distance. Feeling the man's presence behind him, Dean turned down an alley and went behind the bar. Castiel still followed.

Back in the large alleyway, Dean leaned against the back wall of the bar trying to calm his breathing down. He closed his eyes for only a second before he heard steps approaching him. He looked over to see Castiel.

“Dean?” He stepped closer.

“Of course it's you! God!” He got up from the wall. “ You are just everywhere! It's so infuriating! You were at the elders, then the garage, Sam's initiation. I saw you at the bar on Valentine's Day, then the movies,” Dean was pacing back and forth in the alleyway as he counted the places on his fingers. “At the summer solstice celebration, and now here! It's like your stupid blue eyes and that damn symbol are following me everywhere!"

“Symbol?” Castiel cocked his head in confusion.

Dean threw up his arms frustratingly. “You mean to tell me you don't know?” He walked the few remaining steps over to Castiel and pulled his own jacket sleeve up to reveal the symbol. Then he pulled up Castiel's to show the matching symbol. “You mean to say you had no idea?” Dean was trying to gauge Castiel's reaction to the situation.

“Dean, I…” Cas didn't know what to say.

“You what? Seriously?” Dean walked back over to the wall and leaned against it again. He let out a frustrated sigh. “You know…” his voice was calmer. “Never mind.” He looked away from Castiel who was walking over to him.

“Tell me, please. I want to know.” The look in Castiel's eyes was desperate. “Dean…”

Dean looked back at Cas whose eyes were glossed over. “I'm scared, not because I found my soul mate, but because I thought it would be different.”

“Oh.” Castiel deflated. “When we bumped into each other at the solstice, didn't you feel something?”

“I'm not sure,” he looked away again. “I don't know what it was supposed to feel like.” Dean started to walk away.

“Don't you dare walk away, Dean Winchester!” Castiel almost shouted. “This isn't just about you anymore. It's about both of us!”

“When did my life turn into a damn chick flick?” Dean turned around and reciprocated Castiel’s tone.

Castiel met Dean halfway between them. “Listen, I know this must be terrifying. Being I am who I am. But honestly, you're no picnic either. You're grouchy, persnickety, you can be all about you, but…” Castiel paused because he needed to catch his nerves. “Ever since I saw you there has been something I've wanted to do.” Without any warning, Castiel grabbed both sides of Dean's face and pulled him in and kissed him, eyes tightly closed.

Dean, shocked at the situation, didn't know what to do. “Dude,” he said when Castiel pulled away. “What the hell was that?” If that didn't sober up whatever buzz Dean may or may not have had, nothing would.

“I have always wanted to do that.” Castiel flashed him a drunken smile. Dean could finally see how drunk Cas really was.

“Um,” he shook his head to gain control of the situation. “You are clearly drunk, how about I get you home, okay? We can talk more about this another time.” Dean motioned Castiel to the direction of his car.

“How about lunch?” Castiel insisted.

“May...be, let's see how you are feeling first, okay?” Dean got Castiel to his car safely, and he took him home. Somehow, Cas managed to find Dean’s sharpie and he wrote his number on his own hand. When Dean felt it, his eyes went wide, and he had a hard time focusing on the road. Despite the obvious distraction, Dean got Cas home safely, and they parted ways.

Arriving home Dean went right into his room and locked the door. After he threw his coat on the floor, he collapsed on his bed and all he could do was look at the dot pattern of the stucco on his ceiling. “What the fuck just happened?” Dean shot right up to a sitting position. “Castiel, Sam's old professor, just … kissed me.” He slid his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He put his face in his hands and worked so desperately to slow his heart rate. “He kissed me, did I kiss him back?” He looked up and tried to remember, but his brain was fuzzy. Getting up, he replayed the scene in his mind. “Ok, he was here, rambling on about me, then he kissed me.” He paused. “Oh my god.” He sat back down. “I think I kissed him back… or did I? I really don't know.”

He laid back down, head swimming with what just happened. He raised his hand remembering the number was there. He quickly put it in his phone, just in case something were to happen. After he kicked off his shoes, Dean fell asleep, but not before he replayed that kiss in his mind about 20 more times.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we are going back to the diner named diner.

Dean had been awake for about an hour already. Just looking at his phone, mentally debating. “I should,” he picked up his phone and unlocked it. “No, I don't want to push it.” He put his phone back down, still unlocked. He lazily opened his contacts and went to ‘C’. He tapped Castiel's name on his phone and brought up a blank text screen. “But really I should,” he mumbled to himself. Steadying his nerves, he finally decided what to do.

‘Hey, it’s Dean. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. This is my number if you want to talk.’

Right as he was going to send it, he heard a knock on the door. “If that isn't fate telling me something, I don't know what is.” He locked his phone and went to the door.

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel stood on the other side of the door.

“Castiel,” Dean was confused.

“You can call me Cas by the way.” Dean opened the door more and gestured for him to come inside.

“Two things, one, why are you here? And two, how did you know where I live?” The confused look of Dean's face grew more intense.

“First, I remembered where you live because I brought you home the night of Sam’s initiation because you were too drunk to drive.” Castiel sat on the couch facing Dean. “Also, I came to apologize.”

“Oh,” Dean's face softened.

“Dean, I'm sorry. That was completely unlike me to do. I should not have drunkenly kissed you. Also I'm not sure, but I vaguely remember asking you out.” Cas lost all eye contact and was turning a deep shade of pink. “I'm also sorry for the things I said about you. I didn't mean it.”

“I wouldn't worry too much about it. I didn't tell anyone what happened, and I'm sure no one saw it.” Dean fidgeted with the volume keys on his phone.

“So,” Cas looked back up at Dean. “Asking you to lunch was probably a bad idea then?”

“Oh,” Dean looked back to Cas. “You meant that. Uhm, I mean,” Dean let out a large exhale. “What harm could going to lunch do?”

Cas gave Dean a huge smile. “How's Monday sound?”

“I'll have to check my work schedule. Can I text you later when I know?” Dean pulled out his phone and noticed the unsent text. He promptly deleted it.

“I,” Castiel got up and started to the door. “I guess I'll hear from you later?”

“Yea, I guess so,” Dean nodded as Castiel left. Dean froze. _What just happened?_

Dean, stunned still, sat on the couch looking at the calendar on his phone. “Shit, I guess I should call and get my schedule.” Dean blinked.

After calling Bobby and getting his schedule for the next few weeks, Dean’s mind wouldn't stop racing. _Ok… ok… just text him. It's just lunch._

*****

‘Hey, umm, Cas. I'm not free Monday’ Dean texted to Castiel.

‘Oh. :/’ Castiel responded.

‘How’s Wednesday?’

‘I'm free Wednesday. I'll pick you up at 12:30?’

‘See you then.’

*****

Dean splashed some water in his face, and looked in the mirror. “I look like a fucking vampire,” Dean said to himself. He was so pale and nervous. It looked as though he was death warmed over.

Dean took a deep breath when the doorbell rang. He looked at himself again, “Okay, I can do this. It's just a date.” Dean quickly walked towards his door and opened it.

  
“Hello, Dean. Are you ready?” Cas asked Dean with a smile that could light up any room.

  
“Yeah, just let me grab my jacket.”

Dean still couldn't believe how good Cas looked in the tight jeans, white buttoned up shirt, and grey vest. Dean grabbed his black leather jacket and followed Cas to his car.

  
*****

  
Cas tried to contain his nerves. He couldn't believe Dean actually said yes.  
Okay, don't rush. Take things slow. _Oh God, I hope Dean loves the date. We are soulmates after all. Hope he realizes that soon._

“Cas?” Dean interrupted Cas mid thought.

“Dean?” Cas answered sarcastically with the biggest smile.

“I like your car. So classic.” It was true. To be honest, it turned Dean on a little bit.

“I'm glad you like it Dean. I love yellow.”  
Dean chuckled as they stopped at a light.  
  
“What's going through that beautiful mind, Dean?” Cas asked.

“It's like I'm riding in a bumblebee.” Cas chuckled as they continued driving.

*****

 _“So, where we going?” Dean asked. I know I said yes, but I can't help but wonder if it's the right choice. We are probably going out to some fancy ass_ restaurant, _and I'm super underdressed. Guess I'm about to find out._

“You'll see. We are almost there. I think you'll like it.” Cas was so vague sometimes.

Cas pulled into a 24 hour diner named Diner. “Wasn't expecting this,” Dean said surprised.

“What were you expecting? A fancy place?” Cas asked Dean.

“Honestly, Cas, yeah. I figured you'd want somewhere nice.” Dean always spoke his mind and found he couldn't lie to Cas.

“Well, I know that's not your style, and hell, they probably don't have pie at a nicer place.” Cas grinned and Dean couldn't help but smile.

“Mmmm, pie.” Dean smiled exiting the vehicle. This date was already better than Dean thought it would be.

Dean began to feel a bit better about the date as they began to find their seats. The waitress came to their table.

“Hey beautiful.” The waitress looked at Dean and moved her eyes up and down. Dean could clearly tell she was checking him out. “Can I get you and your friend anything to drink?”

Cas smiled but was livid. “I'll have a Diet Coke with lemon please.”

The waitress smiled, wrote in her pad, looked at Dean, smiled and said  
“What about you, baby?” she asked soothingly.

“Yeah, I'll take a beer please.” He ignored her flirting.

The waitress again wrote in her pad, smiled and replied “coming right up.”

She walked away. Dean did his best to get comfortable, but seeing the waitress; her blonde hair, blue eyes, really made him confused again.

Cas sat there nervous. _Dean looks so uncomfortable. That damn waitress isn't helping._

*****

Dean cleared his throat, and broke the awkward silence.

“So, history, huh?” Dean asked nervously.

“Yeah, it's not bad, really. I'm actually really intrigued with the Holocaust. It's so horrible and raw. Makes me sad. All those lives lost because of one man.” He shrugged.

Dean chuckled and replied, “That damn Hitler. I'd have killed him myself if I could.”

Cas looked up and saw Dean's smile get a little bit bigger. “What about you? A mechanic. Bet you get pretty dirty.” Cas just grinned at Dean, hoping he would get the joke.

“Dammit, Cas. Not here.” Dean began to close down as he looked around the diner hoping no one heard them.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel weird.” Cas dropped his head in embarrassment. Dean noticed and felt horrible.

“Cas, I meant, save the dirty talk for later. This is all kinda new for me.” Dean quickly looked around for the waitress. “Where are our damn drinks already?”

Just as he was about to get up, the waitress delivered the drinks. “One Diet Coke with lemon for you, and a beer for you. Do you know what y'all want?” The waitress now seemed more closed off. She could tell they were more than friends and became a little jealous.

“Yeah, I'm ready. I'll take a Cobb salad with light ranch please, and can I get a piece of blueberry pie?” Cas told the waitress.

“Gimme a double bacon cheeseburger, extra cheese, order of curly fries, and make that two pieces of blueberry pie.” Dean smiled at Cas as he handed his menu to the waitress. She walked away, and they were alone once again.

Cas noticed a magazine at the table behind him. He chuckled. “Look, People Magazine.” Cas chuckled. He began to read through it. “10 ways to tell if your partner is ready to take it to the next level. Sounds scandalous!”

Dean busted out laughing; the smile on Cas’ face was radiating. As Dean was laughing he noticed a photo of an Angel behind Cas. It was funny; if Cas sat just right, it was almost as if the wings were coming off of him.

The food arrived and Dean chowed down. Dean began to finally open up. Laughing at the funny jokes Cas made, Dean was happy, happiest he'd been in a long time.

*****

Sam was ready for lunch. Since he worked so close to home, he decided to walk home for a quick bite.

Sam was walking past the diner when he noticed Cas’ car in the parking lot. _Professor Novak’s car! I should go and say hi!_

Sam walked through the diner parking lot when he looked in a window. Cas was there with his brother. Dean had the biggest smile on his face. He seemed light, like a burden had been finally lifted off his shoulders. Sam backed up, smiled, and walked home.   _About time._

*****

Dean and Castiel spent the rest of their lunch sharing secrets about each other and getting to know each other better. The meal came to an end and Castiel refused to let Dean pay for their meal, insisting that because he asked him out he was going to pay.

Back at Dean's apartment, Dean stopped at the front door but did not go in.

“Cas, I've been wondering,” he fidgeted with his keys. “Have you always known your soul mate was going to be, umm…” Dean dropped his eye contact with Castiel. “Be, umm, uhhh…”

“A, uhh, guy?” Castiel finished his sentence. Dean nodded. “I did have one girlfriend, my freshman year of high school. It was a little obvious to me when she went to kiss me, and I didn't feel anything. We broke up, and I didn't date anyone till college when I did have a boyfriend. I felt more of a connection to him.” Castiel guided Dean's face back to have him look at him. “That connection is nothing compared to what I felt at the solstice or what I feel around you.”

“Cas… I…” Dean tried to talk but the words didn't form correctly.

“It's ok, I understand.” Castiel nodded his head slightly. Happiness seemed to radiate off of Castiel to the point Dean could almost feel it.

“Thank you for lunch. Let’s, umm, let's do dinner next time.” Dean opened the door to his apartment but hesitated to enter.

“I’d like that.” Without any warning, Cas leaned in and gave Dean a small kiss. “Bye, Dean. I'll talk to you later.” Castiel started walking away, leaving Dean standing there motionless.

“Cas, wait,” Dean called out for Cas, who turned around. Dean quickly went down the hall to Cas and quickly kissed him back. “I'll text you.” He flashed Cas a smile and went back to his apartment. Castiel stood there for a second, trying to wrap his head around what just happened before it clicked. He spent the rest of the day with a stupid smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Felt like doing a double post today. Hope you enjoy!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has some big decisions to make.

“Madam Harvelle, can I talk to you?” Sam jogged down the long hall of the elders building after her. “I've been doing some research, and I have some questions.”

“Of course, Sam. We don’t have any appointments for the rest of the day. Let's go to my office to talk in private.” She lead the way to her office. 

They both sat in large leather chairs in a side seating area of her very large office. “I have a few questions about soulmates. The biggest one being, why 25?”

“It has been 25 for generations. No one knows exactly why it's 25 year olds we do the ritual for.” She poured herself a glass of water from a glass pitcher on the small table in front of them and offered Sam some. Sam simply shook his head. 

“I would like to propose that we lower that age. My research shows that the age of 21 would be the best option. Logically speaking, of course.” Sam paused to give time for Madam Harvelle to answer. 

After a slight pause for thought she spoke, “This has nothing to do with Eileen, does it?” It was like she stuck a pin on a bullseye while blindfolded, and it was written all over Sam's face. 

“That might be part of it.” Sam was attempting to avoid eye contact. “But Madam Harve…”

“Sam,” she interrupted him. “You are aware as an elder you don't get to have a soulmate. Why are you pushing this?” She gave him a softened look. 

“That's my other thing,” he sat on the edge of his chair. “Why can't we? Honestly, what would it hurt for us to have someone to love?” His tone was bordering on begging. 

“You know why, Sam. We need to stay impartial. You are getting close to the age where you will understand this. I know you haven't been an elder for long. You still have a lot to learn. Please trust me.” She closed her eyes for a moment, as if to try and forget something. 

“You've… you've been in love.” Sam looked at her knowingly. “I know that look. I've seen it in the mirror. Who was it?”

“Bobby Singer. Because I wasn't allowed a soulmate, he never got one.” A tear formed in her eyes. 

“Madam Harvelle,” Sam put his hand on her knee. 

“Ellen. You can call me Ellen. I think we know each other well enough by now.” 

“Ellen, don't you want that back? Don't you want to be with Bobby? I know him. He's Dean's boss. He's pretty grouchy. I think you could tame him.” He let out a small laugh. 

The tear escaped her eye. “We would need to take this to the other elders.” Sam's face for hopeful. “But,” there was always a but. “You have to pick. Drop it to 21 or get your soulmate.” 

His face became a little less hopeful. In the back of his mind, he knew what he needed to do. He just needed to have a conversation now with Eileen, and it wouldn't be easy. 

*****

“Hey, sweetheart. Can we go somewhere to talk?” Sam kissed Eileen on the cheek. 

“Is everything okay?” She grabbed her purse from behind her desk. 

“Yeah,” he was rehearsing what he wanted to say to her. “Let's go to the diner. Grab a slice of pie.” 

They decided to walk the block and a half to the diner. They sat in the booth that had become their go to booth ever since they started dating. They ordered a few waters and a couple slices of the daily pie. 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Eileen asked Sam. 

“I have a very tough decision to make. I have the opportunity to go before the elders and propose a change with the soul mates.” 

“Wow that sounds like an amazing opportunity. What do you have to decide from?”

“I have to choose to either talk to them about lowering the age you see your soulmate markings down to 21…” he paused because he wasn't sure how to bring it up. “Or I can talk to them about letting the elders also have soulmates.” Sam looked sad at the thought of losing her. 

“The elders can't have soulmates?” This was the first she had heard of this. 

“I recently found this out and wasn't sure how to tell you. If we are true soul mates, and in my heart I know we are, we won't be able to stay together if I am an elder.” He reached for her hand. “I wanted to get your thoughts on what I should do. I want it to be easier for people to find the one for them, but I don't want to lose you. You mean so much to me.”

“I know deep in your heart you will do the right thing. I don't want to lose you either, but I know you are the least selfish person I have ever met. Promise me one thing, Sam.” She gently squeezed Sam's hand. 

“What's that?” He tried to force a smile even though his mind was racing, full of sad thoughts. 

“Promise me I will still be in your life somehow.” Her brown eyes penetrated his soul. He knew exactly what he was going to talk to the elders about. 

“I promise. I love you too much to lose you completely.” Sam loved how smoothly those words came out of his mouth. 

“I love you too, Sam.” Her smile lit up the room. They finished their pie and went back to the elders’ building. Sam set up a time the next day to talk to the other elders for his proposition. 

*****

Sam had a very difficult time sleeping the night before. The different outcomes played in his mind, the good ones, the bad ones, all of them. 

Sam got to work early and stood outside the conference room door nervous to enter. After a few minutes of pacing back and forth, he ran through his presentation through his mind, making sure it was perfect. With a deep breath, he walked into the conference room where the other four elders awaited him. 

“Fellow elders,” he began. “I propose that we lower the age for the soulmate markings to 21. This would ensure that people would have more time with them. It would also be more beneficial to find them while still in school or soon after finishing. I know it might be overwhelming to some to have that and the job placement at the same time. That is why I also propose that we change that to after someone finishes school, be it high school, trade school, or even college. We know what is best for them right?” Sam took another deep breath. “I am fully aware that with this change I still will not be able to know or keep my soul mate. I have accepted my decision on the matter.” 

“Thank you, Sam. Please give us some time to talk this over. We will call you back when we are done,” Mr. Miles said as Ellen wrote some things down. 

Sam waited in his office, drawing circles on a paper, nervously awaiting their decision. 

Bing!

‘Well?’ Eileen texted Sam. 

‘Still waiting to hear. Should be any minute now.’ 

‘Everything is going to be fine. I know you are doing the right thing. I love you.’

‘I know, just wish I wasn't so nervous about it. I love you too.’

Sam put his phone back down on his desk and went back to drawing circles on the paper. His paper was nearly full of senseless scribbles when his desk phone rang, and Ellen was on the other end telling him to come back that they had come to a decision. Sam nervously got up and made the short walk down to the end off the hall back to the conference room. He gulped as he opened the door. 

“Sam, after much deliberation we have decided to initiate your proposed changes. These will go into effect the start of the month.” Ellen informed him. “We feel you have made some great points, and we have also looked into the Magic behind the change and come to the conclusion that there is nothing to stop it from happening.” 

“Thank you,” Sam smiled nervously. “Thank you all for this. I know there are going to be a lot of happy people.”

“We will be announcing it in a press conference at the end of the week.” Mr. Miles added. “Is there anything else you would like to discuss with us, while you have the time?” 

Sam stood there for a moment with his heart and brain fighting like a great tug of war. “I do,” he made sure to make eye contact with each elder before finishing his thought. “I quit.” His heart won the tug of war. 

“I'm sorry?” Ellen was stunned. 

“I quit. I would like a new job placement please. There are plenty of bright hopefuls who can have my spot.” He felt like the weight of the world was off of his shoulders. “Consider this my resignation, effective immediately.” Sam didn't even give them time to process what just happened before he left the conference room and back to his office to pack his things. 

He didn't have much to pack, just a few pictures and his laptop. After gathering his things, he went back out to the lobby just in time for Eileen to be done with her shift. He walked right up to her and pulled her into a kiss. “I love you,” he said and gave her the biggest smile ever. “Let's go to dinner tonight. I have so much to tell you.” 

“I love you too. Dinner sounds great.” Eileen had a mixture of happiness and confusion on her face. 

That night at dinner he told her everything, how he got the age lowered for soulmate findings, how the age for jobs will change to after the people were out of school. But most importantly how he quit. 

“You quit? You won't be an elder anymore?” Eileen's jaw dropped. “Why?”

“For you, for us. It kept me up all night. I love being an elder, but I love you more. I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. This last year and a half have been the best of my life.” 

“Mine too. I still can't believe you did that. Let's hope you love your new job placement as much as being an elder.”

“Oh man! I didn't even think about that. It's going to be weird not seeing you at work everyday.” He looked bummed out. 

“When will you know your new job?” She had the same bummed look. 

“Soon,” he said after he checked his calendar on his phone. 

“I'll have my fingers crossed for you.” 

They finished their meal with lighter conversations and a discussion on how he planned on telling Dean that he quit his job. 

*****

“Hey, Sam how was your day?” Dean asked as Sam walked in the door to their apartment. 

“Well, I got the age to get your soulmate markings lowered down to 21. I got it so people don't get their jobs till after they finish school,” Sam looked up at the ceiling. “And iquitmyjob,” he said as one word.

“Wait,” Dean scooted to the edge of the couch. “You did what?”

“Got the age to get your soulmate markings…”

“Down to 21 yeah I heard that. What was the last part?” 

“Oh,” he got the courage to look at his older brother. “I quit my job.” 

“I thought that's what you said. Why?” 

“For Eileen. If I stayed an elder, I don't get a soulmate. I really truly believe she's my soulmate, and if she is and I stay an elder, she doesn't get one.” 

“Oh.” Dean sat back on the couch, and let Sam's words sink in. “Well I'm glad you were able to change things so people can find their soulmates sooner.”

“I go in the Monday after the ceremony to get my new job placement. I'll let you know what I get. Maybe you can tell Castiel for me.” He didn't even think about what he said till it was too late. 

“Umm, what makes you think I would be around him to tell him,” Dean's face said it all. 

“He's your soulmate right?” Sam casually said as he grabbed a bag of cookies out of the cabinet. “Don't think I didn't notice the symbol.” He chuckled. 

“Umm” Dean froze. “Sammy? How long have you known?” 

“Oh man,” he took a bite of a soft chocolate chip cookie. “Over a year and a half now,” he informed Dean with a mouthful of cookie.   
“You weren't allowed to tell me, were you?” 

“Nope. But I figured you figured it out when I saw you two together the other day.” Sam finished his cookie and put the rest of them back. Growing tired of the conversation, he headed to his room. He closed the door for a moment then opened it again and stuck his head out. “By the way, I think he will be very good for you.” He closed the door again. 

“Shut up, Sam!”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Sam's changes to take effect.

“Hey! I was watching that!” Dean almost hit Sam for taking the remote from him. 

“Ellen is about to have her press conference. I need to watch it.” If Sam could have pushed Dean off the couch he would have. 

“Sam, come on!” Dean tried to reach for the remote. 

“Shhh, it's starting.”

Ellen stood up to a podium in front of the elders’ building. “I have called this press conference to announce the age for the soulmate findings will be lowered to the age of 21. This means that everyone aged 21-24 will be able to attend the ceremony to start seeing their marks. This will be held at Roosevelt High School auditorium this Friday. If your last name starts with an A through K, you will check in at 8:00am. L through S will check in at 11:00 am. T through Z will be the final ceremony at 2:00pm. This will ensure everyone is documented. In conjunction with this, the job placement will now occur after one finishes school, whatever grade level they chose to complete. We feel this change will lower any anxiety levels the soul mate change could bring. It is also with a heavy heart to announce our newest elder Sam Winchester has resigned his position, and we have found his replacement. We feel they will be a great addition. More information on that to follow.” 

Sam pulled out his phone and quickly made a note in his calendar for his time slot on Friday. “I need to Skype Eileen.” With that Sam ran off to Skype his girlfriend. 

***** 

“Dean, please?” Castiel's blue eyes widened. 

“No, Cas, we can't go to Sam's ceremony. It's weird.” Dean reached for popcorn in the bowl between them. 

“Why is it weird? We would be showing our support for him. I just want him to be happy like we… umm, like I am.” He looked back to the movie on the tv screen in front of them. 

“Plus, I'm not sure we would be able to go anyway. They have to check in,” Dean replied with a mouthful of popcorn. 

“Could we at least wait for him outside?” He smiled towards Dean with a begging look in his eyes. 

“Don't use those blue eyes against me.” Dean tossed a few pieces of popcorn at Castiel's face. 

“It works, doesn't it?” He tried not to laugh. 

“Shut up, Cas.” Dean smiled. “Fine, we can wait for him, but only if he says it's ok. The ceremony is tomorrow so you better ask soon.” 

“I'll text him now.” Castiel quickly pulled his phone out. Dean had never seen thumbs move as fast as Castiel's did when he sent the text. 

Bing!

‘I appreciate you guys wanting to be there for me, but I have plans with Eileen after my ceremony.’ 

“Oh,” Castiel reacted to the text. “He has plans after.” 

Bing! 

‘Btw, hope you and my brother are having a fun time. ;)’ 

“Oook then.” Castiel quickly locked his phone. 

“What was that about?” Dean raised one eyebrow. 

“Nothing. Just your brother being weird.” He turned his attention back to the movie. 

*****

“It's just a ceremony, sweetheart. I wouldn't worry about it too much.” Sam rubbed Eileen's shoulders to try and relax her. “It's time for you to go check in. I won't be out here when you are done, but I'll meet you at your place when mine is done.” 

Eileen gave Sam a quick kiss and went to check in. “I'll see you soon. I love you.” He gave her a huge smile before she walked into the auditorium. 

While Sam waited, he knew there were some very important places he had to go to. He wasted no time running to his Mustang and running his errands. 

After a few stops, one very important one being lunch with Dean to discuss things. Sam grew impatient and sat in the parking lot of Roosevelt High School, anxiously waiting his time to check in. 1:50 hit and Sam decided it was close enough to 2:00 so he stood in line to check in. The group before him had already came and left. The ceremony wasn't long. The elders just needed time to make sure everything was in order for each group. 

Sam was one of the first to check in so he got his pick of seats. He sat at the end of the row, so he could be one of the first ones out. As the seats filled in the roped off rows, Sam's anxiousness grew. By the time Ellen came out his leg was bouncing so much the person next to him was giving him a death glare. 

“Welcome everyone,” Ellen's voice calmed Sam's nerves just a little bit. “There are a few things I would like to discuss.” In Sam's mind her voice started to trail off. 

“Now that we have gone over the rules with you, it is time for the ceremony. Oh, and a copy of the rules will be handed out to you before you leave.” Ellen smiled and the other elders walked in. They performed a very simple ceremony, each lighting a candle and saying a few words in Latin, Sam still had no idea what they were saying. A small rush, almost like a light breeze blowing, ran down Sam's spine. He knew that it was over. Ellen dismissed everyone and Sam didn't even bother taking a copy of the rules. He just ran to his car and was the first out of the parking lot. 

‘I'm here :)’ Sam texted Eileen. 

She opened the door with a smile and a hug. Her nervousness also showed on her face. “Did you read over the rules?” Eileen asked. 

“No need, I've heard them enough. Was pretty redundant at this time.” He grabbed her by the hand and they sat on her love seat. “Are you ready?” Sam gulped back a breath. 

“As ready as I'll ever be.” Eileen had her favorite pink pen on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Just like we talked about okay?” Sam put his hands behind his back and closed his eyes. 

Eileen made sure his eyes were actually closed and started drawing on the palm of her hand. This drawing was more than a doodle. It was almost if her whole life was leading up to this one drawing in particular. Once she was done, on her hand sat two doves looking at a heart that was placed between them. She placed the pen back on the table closed her eyes and also put her hands behind her back. 

Hearing the pen click and be put on the table was Sam's cue to open his eyes. They had talked about what she was going to draw, so they would know it was her who did it. He brought his shaky hand around and when he saw the doves he almost started crying, but it was his turn to do something. He flipped his hand over and instead of drawing what they talked about he decided to write. He could hear Eileen try and hold back a giggle because it tickled. When he was done, he put the pen back, put the hand he wrote on in his jacket pocket, and tapped her on the knee to tell her he was ready. 

She opened her eyes to see Sam smiling at her. “Go on, look,” he instructed. 

She looked at her doves on her palm and slowly turned her hand over to reveal the five words Sam had wrote on his hand. 

“Eileen, will you marry me?” 

The sight of those words and the ring Sam pulled out of his jacket pocket was enough to make her cry. ‘How can you read my lips with tears in your eyes?’ He signed to her before he wiped away the tears. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” Eileen kissed Sam. “Of course it's a yes.” Sam placed the ring on her finger and took out his phone and quickly face timed Dean. 

“Hey, Sammy,” Dean smiled. 

“Dean, she said yes!” Eileen held up her hand to show off the small but elegant ring he had picked out for her. 

“So you were right about you two.” 

“When ya know, ya know. Am I right?” Sam winked at Dean. 

“Don't try to make your special day about me!” 

“Okay,” Sam laughed. “I'm going to hang up now and spend some time with my fiancée. Tell Cas for us?”

Dean just rolled his eyes and before he could say something snarky Sam hung up on him. 

 

*****

“Sam Winchester, the elders will see you now.” 

Sam almost glided over to the elders’ conference room. He hadn't stopped smiling since Eileen said yes. 

“Sam, thank you for seeing us again. It took some deliberation, but we feel we have the perfect job replacement for you,” Ellen started. 

Sam's face went cold with nerves. 

“I would like to personally ask you to be our research analyst. We are sad to see you leave as an elder, but you aren't getting away with us that easy.” Ellen gave him a sly wink. 

“I would be honored. Thank you so much!” Sam's smile was even bigger, if that was possible. He was just about to leave the room but turned back around. “Oh by the way, you all are invited to my wedding.”

All the elders said their congratulations, and Sam gave them all the details of how it happened. He made sure to tell them he would let them know when it would be.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promised you a happy ending.

December 31st

“Cas, come here, your tie is crooked.” Dean motioned for him to go over to him. “Can't have my date looking disheveled, that wouldn't look good with me being the best man after all.” Dean fixed Castiel's tie. “There, now you look better, if that was at all possible.” He leaned in and gave Castiel a kiss, just as Sam walked in the room. 

“Really, guys? On my wedding day?” He tried to shield his eyes. 

“I'm sorry,” Castiel blushed. 

“I'm not,” Dean rolled his eyes with a grin. “I refuse to apologize for how close we have gotten since we started dating.”

“Guys, it's time.” The pastor came in to let them know. 

Dean gave Castiel a kiss on the cheek, “Go find your seat, and I'll come find you when it's done.” 

“Sam, wait,” Dean gave his brother a huge hug. “I'm happy for you, Sammy.” 

“Thank you, Dean. I'm also happy that you are finally happy. Can I say I told you so yet?”

“Don't push it.” They left the room in the back of the church and took their respective spots. 

Sam stood nervously at the front with the pastor. The music started and Dean came out with Eileen's maid of honor and found their spots. The music changed. Everyone stood. Sam's breath seemed to stop. The doors opened, and Eileen stood there in a lavish white ball gown. Tears formed in Sam's eyes as she came closer to him. 

The pastor started the service by welcoming everyone. He read a few chosen verses, and it was time for them to exchange vows. “The couple has decided to do their vows in sign language.” The pastor informed everyone. They signed their vows to each other. They both agreed that their vows weren't for anyone else but just for them. This was the best way they could assure they could keep it to themselves. 

The ceremony overall was short. The pictures after seemed like it took longer.  
“Sam,” Dean said through his smile he held for the pictures. “Are we almost done? My cheeks are starting to hurt.” 

“Yes, Dean.” Sam also kept his smile. “I know you want to hit up the bar.” 

“You know me too well.” Dean finally dropped his smile because he couldn't hold it any longer. 

The pictures wrapped up, and they went to the hotel where the reception was located. They had reserved a huge block of rooms off for their guests. The banquet hall was decorated for the party and was fully stocked with a dj, full service bar, tables for everyone, and a full buffet of various finger foods. In the corner was a countdown till midnight. 

After Sam and Eileen's first dance the party really began. Dean refused to get up and dance. “Come on, Dean, just one dance?” Castiel looked at him with big puppy dog eyes. 

“I don't know. Sam has some horrible taste in music.” Dean sat back in his chair. 

Castiel moved his chair closer so they didn't have to shout over the music. “Well, what music would you have picked?” 

“Oh, I don't know,” he paused for a second. “Journey, the Eagles, Chicago, Aerosmith.” He looked over to Castiel and smiled a smile that said he could go on if he wanted. 

“This is why I love you,” Castiel said with a laugh. 

Dean froze. “You… what?” This was the first time he had heard those words. 

“Love you.” He’d already said it once which meant no going back now. Dean could only reach out and grab his hand. 

“I think I'll take you up on that dance now,” Dean finally said, still stunned from what he was just told. 

The timing Dean had couldn't have been more perfect for Castiel. As soon as they stood up the song slowed down. It didn't take long into the song for Dean to get more comfortable dancing with Castiel. Feeling Castiel against him, it almost felt like he could feel his heartbeat. Cas sunk into Dean and placed his head on his shoulder. As they swayed to the music Dean closed his eyes and just let the moment happen. The song came to an end and Dean and Cas went back to the table. 

The time ticked by and the countdown to midnight drew closer. The party was still lively, despite some of the people leaving early. The dancing had died down, but people were just having fun talking, laughing, and, of course, drinking. 

“Cas, are you ready for the count down?” Dean asked Cas while he handed him a full champagne flute. 

“Sure am.” Castiel took the glass, and he and Dean went closer to Sam and Eileen just as the countdown started. 

10  
9  
8  
7

Dean gulped down his champagne because he didn't want to wait. 

6  
5  
4

Castiel locked eyes with Dean and stopped counting out loud. 

3  
2  
1

Dean closed the space between them and pulled Castiel closer. “I wasted too long being afraid.” He softly told Cas. “I hope you can forgive me for being an idiot.” He laughed. 

“Let's go, and you can tell me how sorry you are tomorrow at brunch.” Castiel practically dragged him out of the banquet hall. 

“Really, we have to go to brunch? I was going to sleep in!” Dean whined. 

*****

Castiel woke to a knock on his apartment door. Groggy and sleepy eyed, he zombie walked to the door, wearing only pajama pants. 

“Happy Anniversary!” Dean stood at the door with two cups of coffee and a bag with bagel breakfast sandwiches. 

“Dean, are you aware what time it is?” Castiel rubbed his eyes. 

“Yeah, 6:30. I didn't want to waste any of the day without you.” He put the bag down and handed Castiel a cup of coffee and took a drink of his own. “Come eat, I have the whole day planned out for us.” 

“You didn't have to do anything special, Dean. I would have been happy with just staying inside and doing nothing all day.” Castiel sat down and unwrapped his breakfast sandwich. 

“I think I know you better than that by now. If I didn't plan something, you would have. And as much as I adore when you do that, cause don't get me wrong I do, it's about time I planned something for you.” He took a bite of his sandwich. 

They finished their breakfast, and Castiel got in the shower. Dean didn't lie. He had a whole day planned out for them that started with a nice morning walk in the park to their first stop, the Roadhouse Theatre. He had lined up a private showing of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. “You can talk this time. I promise.” Dean told Castiel as they sat in almost the same spot as he was when they were there last time, over a year ago. 

 

“I wanted to take you there because that is the first time I saw the light in your eyes and heard how enthusiastic you were about pointing out the mistakes in the movie. Sure, it's still a bit annoying, but now I know why you enjoy it,” Dean said as they left the theatre. 

The second stop was lunch at Papa O’Mally’s. “This is where I saw you on Valentine's Day with someone else, and I got jealous for the first time.” 

“I wasn't with anyone… oh, you mean Anna?” Castiel was confused. 

“Red hair, about this tall?” He gestured with his hand. This made Castiel laugh. “What's so funny?”

“Anna was my TA. She was telling me she was going to another department.” He continued laughing. 

“She was your… oh.” Dean couldn't help but laugh too. “Come on, the day is still young.” He took Castiel by the hand and lead him to their next stop. 

As they walked through the empty park over to the equally empty amphitheatre, Dean's palms felt like they were getting sweaty. They sat on the edge of the amphitheatre and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

“So, Dean, why here?” Castiel looked up from his hands to Dean. 

“This is where the Summer Solstice was held that started my push towards you.” Dean's face started to turn pink. They stayed there, just talking till the sun started to set. As the sun was setting Dean lead Castiel back out of the park and on to their next stop, Diner. 

They took their now regular booth and ordered their drinks. “This is where we had our first date. You sat there, I sat here. I made an ass of myself, but you didn't care.” 

After dinner at Diner they got back into Dean's Impala. “I have one last stop for us today.”

“You've already done so much, Dean. You don't need to take me anywhere else.” 

“I know.” Dean carefully looked over as he drove. They stopped near a river, and Dean lead Castiel over to a bench that looked over the river. 

“Dean, you know I love you, but I think you've lost it. I don't remember this place.” Castiel tilted his head confused. 

Dean took a deep breath. “You will.” He shifted to face Castiel. “Oh, I almost forgot your gift.” He reached behind himself and pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. “Here, go on, read it.” 

Castiel opened the envelope and pulled the handwritten card out of it. Dean looked in awe as his boyfriend’s face started to light up. “Do you mean this?” Castiel's face went into shock. 

“I do,” Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Please tell me that is a yes.” 

“Yes, I will move in with you.”

“I'm so glad you said yes. I had a key made for you.” He took the key off of his keychain. “I even had it inscribed with a C for you.” 

Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean's neck and drew him in for a kiss. “Now I know you probably aren't ready to say it, and I'm not going to pressure you or anything.” 

“I love you, too.” He kissed Castiel again. “Found you,” he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank the following people (in no particular order):
> 
> My husband Steve  
> Meredith  
> Joy  
> Amber  
> Chrystal  
> Hectatess
> 
> If it wasn't for you guys helping and being my fans I would have never had the motivation to finish this.


End file.
